Editorial January 2, 1926 Issue

Eternal Friendship

Albert F. Gilmore

The human heart habitually yearns for something about which it may entwine itself, something which will endure forever. It ever seeks a fertile garden wherein it may implant the seeds of its pure affections and noble aspirations, with the assurance that they will take root and thrive. Christian Scientists know that this longing may be satisfied only as affection centers upon the "things of the Spirit," finding its resting place in the deeper things of God.

Mrs. Eddy wrote to First Church of Christ, Scientist, of London, these words, to be found in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 204): "It is only by looking heavenward that mutual friendships such as ours can begin and never end." Friendship to endure must be founded upon the divine qualities, which spiritual man alone possesses and reflects, for only upon a foundation of Truth can this lasting relationship be established. Emerson caught a glimpse of this when he wrote, "The highest compact we can make with our fellows is, let there be truth between us two forevermore." Surely friendship cannot be worthy and permanent when based upon less than eternal truth; and where can truth be found, the truth which endures, except in the realm of Spirit, eternal Truth, the source of all true being?

The voyage of human experience is strewn all along the way with the wrecks of broken friendships, broken because not built upon eternal truth. When motives other than the highest serve as the cement of friendship to bind together qualities other than the divine, the foundation is insecure and may be easily shaken. But when the cement of purified motives unites God-given attributes into a common bond, true friendship is established, hallowed and permanent.

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