Mateship

An interesting article caught my eye in the Sunday Life magazine (in the Sun-Herald) today about what mateship, or male friendship, means today.
It says (paraphrased a bit) `as most men would surely attest, mates are not only good for their cheer and a stubby of beer but they will come through for you when the chips are down. But how many male friendships, when stripped of such cliched idealisation, stand up to closer scrutiny? Men show affection to their mates by taking the (mickey) and putting them in headlocks after closing time. If this is true what does it say about the nature of mateship? Is a mate all he is cracked up to be if he's not someone with whom a man can genuinely upend the contents of his heart?'
I take every friendship I have seriously and have had to depend on my `mates' to get through some hard times. Who hasn't? Admittedly, at times it is hard to open up. But behind any facade there is a genuine desire to connect.
It's probaby a part of the Aussie tradition that you have fun with your mates and you keep everything you're feeling to yourself. This, however, is 2006 and things are changing. You read all the time that it is becoming acceptable to be open and frank about things.
I'd like to think that any friend of mine can come and talk to me about any topic, and there are several people whom I know I can approach as well. I suppose as Christians we should be looking at this topic in a different way to the article I read. I mean, they are writing from a non-Christian perspective and to an audience of similar disposition.
The article explores the topic of intimacy in male friendships and I think this word is unhelpful. I think this because intimacy is something I feel is reserved for romantic relationships. I could be wrong but it just sounds bad. I get what they are saying though, that there isn't a sense of closeness, or brotherly love, among men in general.
The article concludes that men seem happy with the status quo. `While he concedes his friendships are devoid of conversational intimacy, one 32-year-old says ``this doesn't mean we don't support each other or care for each other''.
I think that's a bit of a cop-out. I'd feel horribly isolated if, during a tough time, a mate wanted to hang out but didn't want to address the issue at hand, regardless of whether I wanted to talk or not. As Christians we are encouraged to spur each other on, build each other up and encourage in our daily lives. If we're not there for each other, who will be?