Friendship

I first met Jesus when I was a boy. I didn't know who he was but he stood out like a lone star in the sky. He was bright, serene, calm and peaceful, like no other child I had ever met. He was with his mother at the time. She called on him and he looked at her with such love. I always remember that. They were in the market buying fruit and fish. I was with my father and had just come off the boat with our catch. I was a few years older, so I thought I was wiser in my years. I showed off by swaying when I walked as if to say 'look at me out fishing like a man and you are just a boy.' We were both 13 and 16 at the time.

My voice was like a man's, his still had to break. I remember hearing that when he spoke to his mother. He spoke with such gentleness too.

They both wanted to buy some of our fish - herring, they wanted - but we had none, only sole. I remember he smiled at me while my father and Mary spoke. Little did I know how I would be affected by him and come to love him and his mother Mary in years to come.

We did not speak but his presence made an impact on me. It was when I met him years later and he called on me to join him, he said he knew that day in May that I would become his rock.

I was to become Jesus' rock in the most peculiar of ways about ten years later at a family birthday. Cousins of ours on both sides were related and we were invited. At that stage I was married to Sarah, we had a son and a child on the way. Jesus was with his mother Mary again, at that stage he was about 23. Again, his stature was striking, he smiled at everyone when they came in, I knew him immediately, I remembered his energy. The boy was now a man and his presence was felt by everyone. No one seemed to know how or why they were drawn to him, they just were. His eyes met your gaze when you looked at him and he only seemed to have eyes for you. He was truly present with everyone he spoke to, listening to their every word and tuning into their feelings. It was empathy in excellence and I had never witnessed this ever before.

It was at this family occasion we first spoke. I was introduced to Jesus by an uncle who said, "you two men could go into selling your wares together, good furniture and fresh fish are hard to come by, it would be a match made in heaven," and he laughed. Jesus then held out his two hands towards me, beckoned me to take his and he looked at me with his twinkling eyes and said, "what do you think Simon or may I call you Peter?" "But I am called Simon," I answered.

"You may be," he replied, smiling, "but to me you look like a Peter." If anyone else had dared to change my name I would have been angry and challenged them but with Jesus I knew it was meant to be. So, from then on, and I don't know how or why, but everyone referred to me as Simon Peter or simply just Peter.

The rest of the evening we talked and laughed as if we were long lost brothers. I could tell that the energy between us was special. We had a bond that no others had in the room, and it was like we just 'clicked,' - a modern-day word, I know but it is how I describe our bonding encounter.

We arranged to meet the next day, before the Sabbath. We met in Galilee and had food in a local tavern. Jesus told me many stories of his childhood, including his father Joseph and his mother Mary. He said he knew they had sacrificed a lot for him and he wanted to be able to look after his mother well. He felt that I could help do this, as he trusted me, even though we had just met. He said he remembered meeting me ten years before by the market and we hadn't spoke, as teenage boys are so emotionally shy at that age. He said he knew from that day that we would meet again and begin a journey together.

Now most men don't meet another man at a family gathering, become firm friends and agree the next day to look after one's mother. It was extremely strange but very normal at the same time. How could I say anything but yes? This man was magical and to be in his presence was truly magnificent. I knew that I was in the presence of the Son of God. At that moment I dropped to my knees in the tavern, took his two hands in mine and said: "Master, whatever you wish, I am here for you." Jesus replied, "get up Peter, sit with me like an equal. Yes, I am the Son of God and I know you realise this as you have been chosen to be an apostle - the leader of them all - but for now, we will eat and drink as brothers. I have some years yet before I start my ministry work for my Father in Heaven. Meanwhile, I want to be a carpenter, just as you are a fisherman. I wish us to be brothers and sell our wares together and support each other. I want to live like a man before my duties of truly teaching begins. Can we do this? Can we be brothers?"

I smiled, I broke bread, handed it to Jesus and said, "take this and eat with me brother, we will live like kings and then our mission will begin when you say so. Until then we will work, eat and play, and pray, for there will be wonderful opportunities for both of us.

So, we set up a business together. I would catch fish, Jesus would make furniture, do carvings and generally be very creative with wood. We linked the two trades by telling people about each other, a referral I suppose, but these days it would be called 'good networking.'

We'd meet for breakfast twice a week, once at my home and then at his. This bi-weekly ritual became something to look forward to and cherish.

At my home, Sarah would cook for us and Jesus always helped clear the table and do the dishes. When he first did this I said, "sit down Jesus, that's women's work." He was quick to reply, "and why do you say that Simon Peter? Is your wife not equal to you? Why would you think it is not becoming of you or any man to help the women in the home?" I lowered my eyes in shame as he had not chastised me before. He continued "without women, my mother, your mother, we would not be here on this earth. Neither would your son nor your new child, who is in Sarah's womb, have a chance to come and experience this world. Therefore, we men must realise that fact and think more clearly before we speak of superiority, just because we are physically stronger. Women must be respected and treated equally for they are crucial to our very existence and have to be appreciated and honoured. Women can do everything men can do and more, they can bear children, which is a generous gift to the world. Women can and will be in all roles of life in society - politics, finance, farming, construction and within the church - including leadership roles. Why would they not be I ask you or anyone? So, Peter, I ask you...