Article January 1, 2003 ISSUE

Still best friends

Chelsea Rousselot,—Irvine, California

My friend Jaime and I have been best friends since the second grade. Jaime has a really good singing voice, and we both know how to play the guitar. I play bass and she plays lead guitar. When we were in seventh grade, we began to write songs together. Then we got a drummer and formed a band. I thought we were the perfect team.

Then one day Jaime told me about a church she had begun to go to and how much she liked it. She hadn't been very religious before, but I was happy for her that she had finally found a church.

Little by little, Jaime became more and more intolerant. She would try to force her religious opinions on others, and she began to say offensive things about my faith — Christian Science. I felt rejected. It was like I didn't know her anymore.

One day, I called Jaime up to arrange a band practice during the week. She told me that she couldn't do it that week, but maybe later. I had a feeling she was keeping something from me. Finally, she got up the courage and told me the truth. She said that God had told her to quit the band. I was in shock and I didn't believe her. The Jaime I knew wouldn't just dump her friend over some church. I was so mad at her. Most of all, I just didn't understand. Jaime's becoming religious seemed to make her really happy, but I didn't think it should break up a good friendship.

I stayed away from her for a while and formed a new band, but I realized I needed to forgive Jamie. Holding a grudge wasn't right.

I prayed to forgive her and to have things get back to normal. In my prayers I thought about how Jamie was a child of God. She was always trying to spread joy and kindness to others, and this showed her true nature. I knew her intentions were good, that she would never want to say or do something that would hurt my feelings or make me feel bad about the way I worshiped God. These thoughts helped me lose my grudge.

A couple of months later, Jaime and I decided to see a movie together. She came to my house before it started, and we finally talked things over. We both realized that we loved each other, although we don't always have the same views about things. After our talk, Jaime began to come to my house again to play the guitar. Today, we no longer have the band, but when we get together, we sometimes teach each other to play songs we hear on the radio.

Although Jamie still goes to her church, she doesn't try to convince people that what she believes is right anymore. We have more respect in our relationship now. This year we're in tenth grade. And we're still best friends.

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