How to deal with a toxic friendship
My friend and I were often at odds with each other, sometimes friends, sometimes actively fighting. In wanting to keep the peace, I always felt obligated to take the blame for the problems we had and to make amends.
Growing up as a Christian Scientist, I’d learned in Sunday School that God is Love and that harmony is a quality of Love. But when my relationships had issues, rather than seeing challenging moments as opportunities for prayer—opportunities to spiritually discern that harmony really is present—I mistakenly believed that I must be doing something wrong.
As I matured, though, I began to realize that God isn’t just Love but also Principle, and that the qualities of Principle include fairness and kindness. Being in an unhealthy relationship wasn’t fair or kind to me. This helped me understand that harmony might actually mean the end of relationships that weren’t expressing those qualities of Principle.
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