Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends

“… that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you …” John 17:21a, (NIV)

Have you ever wondered why we need each other? Why we crave relationships yet find it hard to build the kind we long for?

My craving for closer friendships surfaced as I sat across the table listening to the sounds of laughter and admiring the bond between two women I’d met at a lunch. What they had was uncommon.

The way they loved each other, how well they knew each other and how much they enjoyed each other reminded me of a Hallmark commercial. But I wasn’t watching television. This was real life.

And when I asked how long they’d known each…