RELATIONSHIPS December 10, 2007 ISSUE

RELATING TO GOD'S VIEW MENDS MORE THAN FRIENDSHIPS

VALERIE MINARD

Getting Along with Others can be difficult when you feel unappreciated or disrespected. And if allowed to take over, resentment can sour and even destroy a friendship. I've learned from experience that the path to a happy resolution is smoother when I look to God for answers. Doing so has brought me unexpected benefits. I've seen that my real need is to look for the ways we're all related to God, rather than indulge in a "he said, she said" kind of thinking.

This lesson was brought home to me a few years ago. I'd felt taken advantage of—and, yes, unappreciated—in a particular friendship. But from what I'd learned in Christian Science, I realized that instead of thinking someone else should change, I should go to God for direction.