Elixir

200 Words: A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, he that has found one has found a treasure

There are 150 Psalms containing every human emotion (St. Ambrose). In other words, the Psalms give us permission to feel the way we do and to express our emotions and feelings to God.

Wisdom will be the fruit of praying the Psalms. Take Psalm 1, which begins proceedings:

Happy indeed is the one who follows not the counsel of the wicked, nor lingers in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of scorners (Psalm 1).

Here we are told something that is essential for human flourishing:

Most of life depends on the company we keep.

The fruit of good friendships is goodness. The fruit of bad friendships is disaster.

Find this most important human and spiritual theme in the Book of Sirach, too:

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter, he that has found one has found a treasure.

There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence.

A faithful friend is an elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find him (Sirach 6).

Who wouldn’t want a treasure, an elixir?

An elixir is not a Panadol, but a soul-massage, leading us in the right direction.

Amen.