If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it;
if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy.
~ 1 Corinthians 12:26

Brother Weeps once said, “There are two qualities that are at the heart of any deep friendship. One is compassion. Not just the capacity but the willingness and desire to be with your friend when they are hurting by offering a caring, attentive presence without feeling the need to rescue or the presumption to fix them.

The second is concelebration which is not the opposite of compassion. Rather, it is compassion’s intimate and vital—though often overlooked—running mate. Oddly, concelebration is often harder for us to extend to one another, even to a close friend, than compassion. Concelebration—that is, actively and wholeheartedly sharing in another’s joy—often requires more selflessness than compassion.

If we are relatively free of pain or angst, we give up little more than time to drop down and be with another in their pain. But when someone, let’s say a friend, has cause to rejoice—an engagement, a pay raise, a book published, an all-paid-for opportunity to travel courtesy of a generous patron, or winning front-row seats to a concert or ballgame in a raffle—jealousy often wraps both arms around our leg keeping us from rising up and participating in the joy experienced by our friend.

There are few greater qualities in a friend than their genuine, unreserved joy for us when we have reason to rejoice.

In Chapter 12 verse 26 of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he lays out some of the ingredients of mutual love. One of the integral facets of true love he describes with this direct charge: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” There is such a thing as the liturgy of deep love or genuine friendship. Remember, compassion and concelebration—the willingness to suffer with and the willingness to celebrate with another—are always actively present in any good liturgy.

© Dan Miller. All rights reserved.

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