For those of us who are more extroverted, today's reading for Sirach can be a hard lesson. Without repeating it all the key verses are:
Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant....A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.
We are reminded that we should not be afraid in times of need to seek shelter in these faithful, true friends. Perhaps today is a time to take stock of those people God has put into our lives who are those one in a thousand friends on whose love and support we can depend, those who know our imperfections and love us anyway.
