Friendship
[Of Special Interest to Young People]
"Pure humanity, friendship, home, the interachange of love, bring to earth a foretaste of heaven." These words by Mary Baker Eddy, given in an address and now preserved for us in her book "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 100), have been proved true in the lives of many thoughtful people. However, the way to attain harmony has eluded many, even though this way is pointed out in a sentence which follows the above: "The Christian Scientist loves man more because he loves God most." This was illustrated in the following experience.
A young girl felt very unhappy because of the inharmony between her parents. One day she discussed the problem with a friend who was a pupil in the Christian Science Sunday School. When she asked the friend if Christian Science could solve such a problem, the friend replied in effect that Christian Science can solve any problem one is confronted with in the way which will result in the greatest good to all concerned, when the divine rules set forth in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, are faithfully applied. They then discussed the nature of God and man's relationship to Him, and referred to passages in the Bible and the textbook.
Enthusiastically this girl related to her parents something of what her friend had told her, but it was received in silence and without appreciation. She then remembered that her friend had not discussed Christian Science with her until she had asked her to do so. On consideration she saw clearly that she must live Christian Science and show by her own example that Science solves every discordant condition. She enrolled in the Sunday School, and after two years of instruction she was admitted into a branch church as a member. The parents finally observed that she was manifesting better health, greater joy and enthusiasm, and more peace.
One day her father asked if he might go to church with her. Following this, he inquired about the Bible Lessons contained in the Christian Science Quarterly and commenced the study of these Lesson-Sermons. He continued to attend church services with her, and some time later her mother said that she would like to go to church with them because, she explained, the love which they had expressed had made her a better person to live with. "The interchange of love" so apparent in that family surely must have given them "a foretaste of heaven." The girl had proved, with rich blessings, that no matter how heavy the burden seems to mortal sense, Christian Science enables us to see through its claim to reality and to demonstrate the Love which is God.
To become acquainted with God, Love, is to enter upon the most glorious of friendships. The boundlessness of God's love, His tender relationship to man, His fatherhood and motherhood, are all revealed through Christian Science to the earnest seeker. He who loves and understands God as infinite good is receptive to the good which God bestows. Knowing the goodness of God, he knows that God never withholds blessings from His sons and daughters.
Should the blessing of happy companionship seem absent, it may be that one's concept of God and man needs to be revised. Understanding the nature of God, we understand the nature of His sons and daughters. God is Spirit, and man, His idea, is spiritual and perfect. God is Love, and man, His likeness, is loving and lovable. Christian Science reveals the nature of God and man as Principle and idea, Father and son, Mother and child.
God being infinite Mind, the universe of Mind is replete with its spiritual ideas. In the words of our beloved Leader (ibid., p. 503), "Hence the eternal wonder,—that infinite space is peopled with God's ideas, reflecting Him in countless spiritual forms." The child of God is always near and dear to the Father-Mother God, divine Love. As one comprehends God and man, Love and its idea, as inseparable, can he possibly experience any sense of loneliness or separation? The creator and perfect creation are referred to by Paul in his letter to the Romans (9:26): "It shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God."
Mrs. Eddy says on page 151 of "Miscellaneous Writings": "Brother, sister, beloved in the Lord, knowest thou thyself, and art thou acquainted with God? If not, I pray thee as a Christian Scientist, delay not to make Him thy first acquaintance." As this takes place, God is seen to be the Father of all, and His beloved child, spiritual man, to be the only man there is.
In making the acquaintanceship and friendship of the heavenly Father, we find the way becomes brighter as we recognize and accept the sons and daughters of the Father as our true friends. Loneliness vanishes when we realize that God, Love, companions with us. There is no sense of friendlessness when divine Love's presence and tender relationship are felt. A verse in the Christian Science Hymnal reads:
Once more the lonely heart is fed.
Who dwells with Love hath perfect ease,
Faith, hope, and joy, are with us all;
Great are companions such as these.
