The Virtue of Friendship: Here Now & Not Yet

Friendship is a virtue for every man. It is as vulnerable & intimate as it is masculine and strong. Without friendship, no man can have excellence. But this is not by a present perfection but a hope in eventual glory.

One of the stars of the Anglican tradition is Aelred of Rievaulx. He was a Cisterian abbot, known for his treatise, Spiritual Friendship. This is required reading for every Christian man. In western culture, the idea of intimate yet thoroughly masculine men united as one soul has decayed as sodomy has festered. Christian men need to model the vulnerabil…