Article May 4, 1987 Issue

Loving friends—spiritually

Sometimes we get irritated with friends or even feel estranged from them. How can we put our affections and friendships on a sounder basis?

Robin Jagel

I've been thinking about friendship. And about God as universal Love. And about how these two ideas come together for me.

The whole subject seems at first to be a puzzle. On the one hand there are people. People have friends, some of whom are closer than others for various reasons. But on the other hand— a big one—the Bible tells us that God is Love and that He is the first and the last,^{See I John 4:8; Rev. 22:13.} the All and Only. If there is one infinite Being, who is Love itself, how do we account for billions of people with friends of various degrees of closeness?

I guess I started working on this puzzle a long time ago. As a result of an experience I had in high school, some of the pieces started fitting together. I had a very close friend with whom I spent a lot of time and had a lot of fun. Then one day I found I couldn't stand to be around her. It was ridiculous. I still loved her, but everything she said and did irritated me. I kept away but was very frustrated. I didn't want to hurt her, and I couldn't even explain my feelings. So, as a Christian Scientist, I studied the Bible. I also explored what the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has written about love. And I prayed about the situation.

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