Editorial August 11, 1973 Issue

Immortal Friendship

Naomi Price

There are times when we like to be alone—to think our own thoughts undisturbed, to pray and to listen quietly, to observe and to enjoy in private. But there are other times when we feel the need of a companion with whom to share ideas and the discovery of creation's wonders. On occasions we may reach for the hand of a friend for no reason but to know that he is there—an urge Mary Baker Eddy describes when she writes, "My sense of nature's rich glooms is, that loneness lacks but one charm to make it half divine— a friend, with whom to whisper, 'Solitude is sweet.'" ^{Christian Science versus Pantheism, p. 3;}

Warm and lasting friendships, as well as the sweetness of solitude, are blessings that everyone has the right to enjoy. It is not God's will that His children should be isolated, lonely, discontented. The divine Father is infinite Love, and He gives abundantly to all His offspring everything they need for their total happiness and fulfillment. Each one is His idea, perfect and complete, reflecting His qualities, but Love's ideas cannot exist alone. Each one is a member of God's universal family, loving and beloved.

The Bible tells us that God "setteth the solitary in families," ^{Ps. 68:6;} so nobody is, in truth, ever solitary. God's sons and daughters are always bound together with bonds of love. They are selfless, companionable, and affectionate, never possessive or jealous. Their union with each other is deep and permanent. Every one is at one with every other in the purpose of expressing Truth and Love as living witnesses to the one infinite God, divine Love.