Article May 8, 1948 Issue

CONTINUOUS FRIENDSHIP

JENNEVE C. SIEGRIST

Everyone is happy when hearing from a friend, whether one of long standing or one newly found; and rightly so, for God is Love, and therefore love is a quality inherent in God and in man, who is God's reflection. In Exodus 33:11 we read, "And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."

Christ Jesus exemplified in his everyday contacts the beauty of true friendship. His words (Matt. 26: 50), "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" bespeak his attitude of love expressed toward him who was to betray him, even as it had been expressed in the raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead.

The Master's concept of friendship, however, portrayed a higher, more spiritual sense than the human, which loves friends and shuns enemies. To him, friendship was not the presence of a person who liked him and whom in return he liked. It was something far more vital, more Soul-inspired, than this. It was the demonstration of Christ-like love. He gives us his ideal in these words (John 15:13,14): "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."

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