The Friends of God

There is a story of Teresa of Avila when she was traveling from one part of Spain to another in a rough horse-cart, over rough, muddy, washed-out roads.  At one point, in a driving rain storm, the cart overturned, and the nuns had to try to push or pull the cart out of the mud.  In frustration, Teresa asked God why He was making life so difficult for them, when they were trying to do His work.  "This is the way I treat all my friends," God reportedly told Teresa.  She shot  back at Him: "No wonder you have so few of them!"

Despite Teresa's estimation, the truth is that God has an invisible universe of His friends----they are drawn together by their love of Him, and they seem to recognize one another if their lives are truly centered on Him.  One might say they have the same Spirit that crosses all boundaries erected by doctrinal differences and cultures.

The famous Breastplate of St. Patrick could be the universal prayer of the "friends of God," no matter what church or denomination they adhere to:

I arise today through God’s strength to pilot me. God’s might to uphold me. God’s wisdom to guide me. God’s eye to see before me. God’s ear to hear me. God’s word to speak for me. God’s hand to guard me. God’s way to lie before me. God’s shield to protect me. God’s host to secure me against the snares of devils -- against temptations and vices, against inclinations of nature, against everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd …

Christ, be with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me. Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me. Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ where I lie, Christ where I sit. Christ where I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me. Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me. Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Christ. May your salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.