Article May 1, 1920 Issue

Friendship

ELLA L. ZUG

Friendship, like every other human need, must be demonstrated through the teachings of Christian Science in order that the true sense of it may be gained and so enjoyed permanently. When we learn to understand what Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 494), "Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need," we shall not look to any other source but to the divine Mind for meeting all our human needs. The writer has observed the various deceitful ways of the false suppositional friendship produced by mortal mind. One of the most subtle is that of warning you to be careful of certain persons because they have said certain things about you, and the excuse for the accusation of the others is, "I love you so much that I want to protect you." This indeed is false and deceitful, because true friendship knows no evil, but overcomes evil with good, destroying the erroneous gossip by knowing the truth in its place before it can be repeated. True friendship will in its own thinking immediately annul error with the truth, and then nothing is left to be repeated in the way of warning.

A great help in the doing of this can be found in Mrs. Eddy's words in Miscellany (p. 146): "Christian Scientists hold as a vital point that the beliefs of mortals tip the scale of being, morally and physically, either in the right or in the wrong direction. Therefore a Christian Scientist never mentally or audibly takes the side of sin, disease, or death. Others who take the side of error do it ignorantly or maliciously. The Christian Scientist voices the harmonious and eternal, and nothing else. He lays his whole weight of thought, tongue, and pen in the divine scale of being—for health and holiness."

True friendship represents perfect freedom in God, good, not in error represented by the five senses; it will never maintain anything but love. When we discern the true idea of friendship we will never experience loss of friendship but will know that we can only lose a false sense of it, thus improving our concept of friendship until we discern it as purely spiritual, unselfish, everlasting, never expressible as treason, never grumbling, and ever ready to defend good, to share, to bless. True friendship is not afraid of nor does it indulge in personal attachment, but knows personal attachment to be unreal and subject to the command of Christ Jesus, "Get thee behind me, Satan," to which it must yield. Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy certainly practiced true friendship in the highest, truest, spiritual understanding of it, and they have left their example for others to follow. The harvest indeed is great, and the laborers seem few, but the faithful followers and laborers are ready to give thanks and to prove their gratitude through earnest, consecrated work whereby to bless all mankind.

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