“Spiritual friendships provide a shelter in which the consequences of Adam’s fall can be reversed. Spiritual friendships are possible between persons committed to grow in the knowledge and love of Christ, and ascend by degrees until the friends are made one in heart and soul with Christ….Christ is friendship’s pattern, laying down His life for friends. Spiritual friendship is bought by love and won by competition in generosity. Its currency of exchange is counsel in perplexity, consolation in adversity, prayer without ceasing, empathetic identification in grief and shame as much as in honor and joy. Spiritual friendship is grounded in trustworthiness, which allows candor in confession and criticism, and opens a safe place for secrets to be aired. It begins with the good, progresses among the better, is consummated among the perfect. In advanced stages, it crosses over from mere virtue to spiritual zeal, to a resurrection of the spiritual senses, to shared intimacy with God. In the world to come, all friends of Christ will be friends of one another, so that God will be all in all.”
— Marilyn McCord Adams in Christ and Horrors: the coherence of Christology

Thanks to my daughter, Laura, for making me aware of this quote.