"A Soul to Which Our Soul is Drawn."

In The Art of Being a Good Friend by Hugh Black, I am reminded that there are repeated warnings in Proverbs about the many types of people to avoid as friends. By emphasizing the negative effects your choice of friends can have on your life, Solomon is really extolling the virtue and greatness of true friends, well-chosen friends. Hugh Black writes, " The person who wears his heart on his sleeve cannot wonder if [birds] peck at it." He goes on to say, "It is great folly to . . . open our arms to everybody to whom we are introduced." I am really enjoying this book, and finding it very insightful; and, as with any book, parts of it hit closer to home than others. A quote I really like is: "If we never show our kind feeling, what guarantee has our friend, or even ourselves, that it really exists?" I know several people who count me among their friends, but you'd never know it. Sometimes it even comes as a surprise to me if they happen to refer to me as a friend. Black would say (and I agree) that they are too cautious in displaying their affection. There is without doubt great wisdom in being cautious in friendship (Prov.12:26), but there is such a thing as being over-cautious, and that can cause irreparable damage to a friendship, or even prevent one from ever happening.