How to Get Real Friends

How many real friends do you have? Honestly, many people we call
friends would probably better qualify as pals or buddies. The first
step to getting real friends is to recognize how we are all made to
be gifts of love. God is love and we were made in his image. We
were also made for community, because God is a community of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Living out this love and community as
God does requires availability and vulnerability. By availability
we mean “care-free timelessness”, as Catholic evangelist Matthew
Kelly calls it. By vulnerability we mean taking off the mask. This
is the really hard part. As a missionary Fr. Mike knows once said,
vulnerability is not just transparency. Transparency is letting
someone look into the fish bowl. Vulnerability is inviting them
into the fishbowl and letting them move things around. How can we
all learn to grow in love, community, availability, and
vulnerability so we can become real friends to others and live as
the image of God in the world?