Friendship and Hamsters

 

“What are you researching, Victoria?”  I asked my daughter.

“Nothing, really,” she answered me, even as she pulled up a webpage entitled, “5 Tips on how to encourage your hamster to love and trust you.”  As she scrolled down, numerous linked articles showed up – most of which had to do with dogs – “What happens when your dog eats sweet potatoes” and “3 foods your dog needs to avoid!”

“Doesn’t Pip like you?”  I asked her.

“No – or rather, I’m not sure, but he bit me and even though it didn’t hurt, it makes me think he doesn’t like me,” Victoria answered in a rush.

“Maybe you need my new perfume that makes you smell like a hamster,” I said.  “It could be really helpful.”

“Dad!”  Victoria was not amused.

Aly started laughing.  “That would be funny to be sitting in church, and you start sniffing and ask yourself, ‘I wonder who it is that smells like a hamster?’”

It is an amusing thought, but Victoria takes her relationship with Pip pretty seriously – more seriously than her relationship with her siblings.  Getting him to like her and let her hold him is near the top of the list of things she wants to do this summer.

“A man who has friends must himself be friendly…” (Proverbs 18:24) The idea is that if we want people with whom we can share life and connect deeply, we must be willing to make some effort. 

I often hear people complain that some group isn’t friendly or doesn’t reach out the way they would like.  I am sure there is some truth to this, but there is also a sense in which we need to be willing to start a conversation, listen to someone else, and try to get to know them.

Even when it is outside our comfort zone, we can take a first step to friendship.

Just like it is not enough simply to smell like a hamster, so too, it is not enough to wish for connection with others.  As we make ourselves into good friends, we will find these connections grow and our circles expand as a result.