Editorial August 26, 1944 Issue

The Clasping of Hands

Evelyn F. Heywood

The attraction or repulsion which individuals sometimes feel towards each other may be a purely mortal instinct, and if so, it is often proved erroneous with closer acquaintanceship. But the attraction which is born of spiritual propinquity is unerring. Those who, loving spiritual beauty and power, have felt something within them respond to it in first contact with one another, have mentally clasped hands with reality; they have touched the hem of the garment of true friendship. This is companionship, even though it last but an hour, without any of the preliminaries of acquaintanceship. Such experiences will come more and more frequently as men recognize that there is but one Mind; as they realize that the only separation is material-mindedness.

Those things which men truly value in each other are qualities of Mind, individually expressed. What joy we find in thinking and speaking of those we love and esteem, who may be on the other side of the world, or even beyond human sight. Our pleasure lies in recalling the lovable, the unselfish, the courageous qualities they represent and their own individual way of expressing them. When we learn that these qualities are the reflection of the one infinite Mind, God, that which is so dear to us is seen to be inseparably, unfadingly, preserved in consciousness.

If we merely valued our friends for what they contributed to our immediate pleasure, comfort, or well-being, then our love would not be for them, but for ourselves. Loving them in God, we learn to trust them to God and to rejoice. We know that, wherever they are, that which we love is loved also of Him and is expressing itself in qualities representative of Him.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

The Joy of Untangling Snarls