meditatio at the water's edge

You know someone is a close friend if you don't have to shake their hand.

I've been noticing this phenomenon lately when I meet people. If they are a close friend, we never shake hands. That doesn't mean I'm not friends with people if I shake their hand, it's just that there is still a level of formality there (and that is not to say formality is bad). Shaking hands comes out of a tradition to show that one is not carrying a weapon to kill another. It is saying, "We are not enemies and it is safe for you to be with me."

I could draw analogies (which have likely been drawn already) to 'evangelism' should look like (just take the last statement of the previous paragraph and chew on that), but I really just want to point out something I noticed about myself when I meet with people close to me. So next time we meet, don't be offended if I don't shake your hand. It likely means we no longer need to show each other that it's safe to be together. And if I do shake your hand, it still means it's safe (well, relatively--I would like to be known as a dangerous follower of the dangerous Messiah).