An artist is one who sees beauty everywhere he looks. Maybe that’s one reason artists make such great friends – they train themselves to see beauty – in the woods, in the alleys and streets of cities, and in the people they meet. Artists make great friends. 

A friend is one whose eyes light up when they see you. You know you belong when you’re with them. I have friends who are gay. I have friends who are preachers, and friends who hate preachers. I have friends who grew up as blacks under Apartheid in South Africa, and friends, both black and white, who witnessed the slaughter of white farmers in Zimbabwe. I have friends who are hardcore Democrats, and friends who are hardcore Republicans. I have friends who want illegal immigrants to have the right to vote, and I have one friend who believes women shouldn’t have the right to vote. And I’m proud to be their friend. All of them. 

I’ve learned that if I don’t judge them but listen to them, I’ll probably learn something. And I’ll learn to see the beauty in them, which is the very heart of unity. I’ve spent way too much of my life judging people for the positions they take, and it just about wore me out. And as I judged them, I realized I began to miss having friends. 

People that are deep – deep lovers of people with deep, lasting friendships – are those who can separate a person from their beliefs, and be their friend regardless what positions they hold.  There was a guy in history who was really good at being a true friend to anyone and everyone. The only people he was hard on were those whose pride had them judging everyone else. And, as I would expect, he was an artist.