It was quiet in the house. Nighttime had just ended. Now the sun was coming up. It was time for Marc to get up.

"Thump" was the sound of Marc's feet as he hopped down from bed.

He headed for Mom's bedroom. Marc saw her reading the Bible and Science and Health. These are two wonderful books. The Bible has a whole bunch of stories in it. Science and Health is the book about God that Mary Baker Eddy wrote. Parents and children, too, like to read these books. They show us why it is so easy to love God.

If there was anything Marc enjoyed it was stories. When he saw his mom reading, he asked, "Could you please read me a story?"

"OK," his mom said. "Jump up here on my lap."

She told him about the story she'd been reading in the Bible. It was about Jacob, who let himself be talked into being mean to his brother, Esau. ^{See Gen., Chap. 27 .} Later Jacob listened to God and became happy and good and made friends with his brother again.

When Mom finished the story, she said, "Time to get dressed." Marc was four years old, so he could dress himself. After breakfast he was going to go to nursery school. He loved nursery school. Marc had two friends in school he especially liked. They also lived near his house. Their names were Abby and John. Sometimes Abby would come over to Marc's house. And soon John and his dog would come. John's dog was named Bear. John called him that because he was black and big. And furry too. But the children were never afraid of Bear. He was their friend. Bear played by himself. He pushed rocks with his nose and then chased after them. The children had fun watching Bear roll around and play.

That's what Bear did while John, Abby, and Marc played in the sandbox. Sometimes they'd swing and slide, too. They helped each other swing faster and higher. It was fun to giggle and laugh together. But that day after nursery school, Marc came home very sad. He had just been talking with his friend, John. When Marc told

John he was going to play at Abby's after lunch, John said, "I don't like Abby anymore. If you play with her, I won't be your friend."

Marc said John could come, too. But John said he didn't like Abby, and he didn't want Marc to like her, either.

So Marc and his mom talked about what he should do. They talked about the story from the Bible again, the one where Jacob was talked into being mean to his brother.

Now Marc had the same kind of problem. John was telling Marc to stop loving a friend, to be mean.

But Marc was learning in the Christian Science Sunday School how to love all his friends. He didn't want to stop liking his friend, Abby. And he didn't want to stop having John for a friend, either. It made Marc sad to think about losing either friend.

His mom said, "What John does is up to John. But it's up to you to choose for yourself. Doesn't God tell you to love Abby? And to love John, too? It never makes you happy to stop loving someone, does it?"

Marc decided he would not stop being friends with Abby. He went over to her house after lunch as they had planned. They had fun together. But the best part was that in a little while John came on his bike to Abby's house with Bear. "Can I play, too?" John asked. "I want to be friends."

Marc was so happy! He ran to John and said, "Sure, John. Come on!"