“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
- Jim Rohn
Most of us have probably heard this quote, whether it be from a famous motivational speaker or life coach or some other business leader. A lot of times, it’s used for our professional or social lives. If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people.
While the quote certainly holds true in professional and social contexts, there’s a missing piece — our faith lives.
When we reflect on our lives and the five people that we do spend most of our time with, we can ask ourselves — is my faith better or worse when I am around these people?
During our reflections, there’s a few things to keep in mind...
First, men need other men. Many leaders in the Church (and in the secular world) have identified a growing problem today: the lack of authentic male friendships. Of course, true friendship isn’t something that just happens. It takes effort. While it can be awkward at first, we need to give ourselves the opportunity to build and grow authentic friendships over time.
Second, be friends with the Saints. While we can’t sit down for coffee with Saint Pope John Paul II, we can read and learn about his life, in addition to the lives of many other Saints. We can also ‘spend time’ with the Saints to not only learn about their lives, but read what they thought, what they believed, and how they acted. In doing so, we can “raise the average.”
Now of course, books can’t replace in-person friendships. However, both our actual friendships and our growing knowledge of the Saints can support us in our faith journey.