Article June 25, 1938 Issue

Faithful Friendship

KATHERINE ENGLISH

One of the most beautiful stories in the Bible is that of the friendship between David and Jonathan, in which we are told that "the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David." This friendship endured through many vicissitudes and continued until the tragic death of Saul and Jonathan on the mountains of Gilboa.

In the light of Christian Science, spiritual unity is the foundation of enduring, faithful friendship, of which mere personal attachment is the counterfeit. The latter may depend on the personal charm of a pleasant disposition or clever and amusing conversation, and is often possessive. Mistaken personal attachment is material, but true friendship is spiritual, expressive of liberty and affection for good. Such freedom and confidence raise each one who realizes them to a higher level of thought and action.

In such friendship the corroding influence of jealousy cannot make itself felt, for spiritual sense perceives the infinite nature of all that proceeds from the divine Mind, and thus is free from the fear of loss, which lies at the root of jealousy. This disrupting quality, expressing itself in anger, suspicion, or emotional reproaches, is powerless to distress when it is recognized that each individual has his or her own niche, which no one else can occupy. No selfish emulation or insistence on occupying the chief place in another's regard can disturb the harmony of true friendship, which naturally becomes increasingly expressive of God's beautiful qualities.

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