For some, today is simply Wednesday. If you celebrate Easter in its cultural capacity it’s less than five days left to feather the nests of traditional grass in the Easter baskets. And for those whose systems invite them to a Christian practice – it is the mid-point between Palm Sunday and the joyous celebration of renewal that Easter signifies.

There is a more somber tone that braids through this day. The concept of friendship and betrayal. You see plenty of that in the news today, you might say?  There is the alleged betrayal of Greg Mortenson to his readers – and the potential that all he has said is so – may not be so.  We face the sustained capacity for and tolerance of  bullying in our own communities.  That is a betrayal at so many levels.  You might draw to mind a recollection of a friend who betrayed your trust – or perhaps you, in circumstances which increasingly teach you, betrayed a friendship.

Wednesday of Holy Week, or “Holy Wednesday” is the day many turn their attention to Judas Iscariot and his famous betrayal of his friend, Jesus.  Hurt feelings, competitiveness, feeling excluded, wanting more attention or admiration than he received.  These are all speculations as to why, for monetary  compensation, Judas would disclose his knowledge.  His knowledge that he was only able to access by virtue of friendship and trust extended to him.

Physicists teach us that there is no “this” without a counter-balancing “that.”   The walk of The Christ that is observed around the world this week would not have happened in the way we know of it – without this betrayal.  Bringing the large and sacred truth into my every day experience:  I am who I am today because I am shaped and molded by all the experiences of my life which have walked me on this road.  The betrayals – those levied toward me and those I have handed out – all become part of the story I tell of my life by who I am today.

And in the context of a balancing point, let me do two things.  I ask you to consider some affirming action toward your loyal friends today – or perhaps an overture to someone with whom you have experienced a betrayal of sorts.  And secondly, I offer some inspiring friendship quotes borrowed from my book, “US:CELEBRATING THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP (Conari Press, 2011)

“When I least suspected, I turned around and found a friend.”

“heroic acts and simple gestures offer the same answer, ‘Because you are my friend.'”

“If you have one friend, you hold the hand of the world.”

“You are the time worn pages of my favorite book.”