Article January 5, 1935 Issue

Friendship

LULA W. CRUM

FRIENDSHIP! How often is this word on the lips of mankind! Throughout the ages poets have sung of the joys of friendship, essayists have covered pages with profound observations on the subject, and millions, less articulate, have tried to express in broken sentences and fervent handclasps their appreciation of the blessings of friendship.

And yet, joyous and happy as these human friendships may be, they sometimes seem to come to an end. In fact, the fear that perhaps a friendship will terminate, or will diminish in its warmth, that it is "too perfect to last," oftentimes lurks in the background of many a person's thinking. Sometimes, if it is not uncovered and destroyed, this fear may take such possession of thought that a person will find himself saying with Job, "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me," for the human friendship which had been so precious, and without which it had been felt life would be empty, is changed, and the old sense of unity no longer exists. Many students of Christian Science who have had such experiences, and who through the study of the textbooks, the Bible, and "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, have sought the answer to their question, "Why do these sweet friendships end?" have found it in the realization that the only real Friend is God.

Just as the vivid, ever-changing colors of a sunrise presage the coming of the sun, so are our human friendships and companionships, beautiful and sweet as they may be, but indications of the coming into our consciousness of the love which reflects God, the one great Friend.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed"