It is an honor to have friends. In fact I am honored to have bosom buddies who have told me they’re going to die for me. I have suspicions that they might be joking, since we have been partners in everything. But I am always on the lookout—they might make good their promise.
On the other hand, it is not necessarily a dishonor to have enemies. I have not seen or heard of anyone who has not made any enemy. Jesus had. Paul and Peter had. While social decorums may find enemy-making a downside, it is next to impossible to be able to live as old as 62 with your life story having no villains. It simply does not make you normal. My wife has become insomniac because of the enemies I had; on the other hand, I have become amnesiac as to the number of people who have desired to do me harm. No, it is not a compliment for one to be without enemies at all. “Woe unto you,” says Jesus, “when all men shall speak well of you” (Luke 6:26).
