FRIENDSHIP

FRIENDSHIP is precious and should be cherished, for to have a friend is to be rich indeed. True friendship goes beyond all human frailties and misunderstandings. It exists eternally and cannot be broken, because it is of God, and in the foreverness of infinite Love self-interest and possessiveness are unknown.

Our beloved Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, writes (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 204): "It is only by looking heavenward that mutual friendships such as ours can begin and never end. Over sea and over land, Christian Science unites its true followers in one Principle, divine Love, that sacred ave and essence of Soul which makes them one in Christ."

May not the friendship of Jesus and the beloved disciple John furnish an example of such oneness? Of John alone it is recorded that he lay on Jesus' breast. No doubt this was not just because Jesus loved John devotedly, but because John, of all the disciples, best understood and loved the Christ-idea, which Jesus demonstrated.

It was John's spiritual comprehension which enabled him to grasp the significance of Jesus' transfiguration, as well as to be the only one apparently of the disciples who, unmindful of consequences, could stand fearlessly by while his friend was in the hall of judgment. Is it to be wondered at that he received from that greatest Friend, the universal Father, not only comfort for himself in isolation on the Isle of Patmos, but revelation for all mankind as well?

The New Testament records that Jesus talked with Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration. Long centuries before, Moses had spent many years in solitude and prayer in preparation for his mission as a spiritual leader. So close a friend of God did he become that God talked with him face to face. It was Moses' spiritual vision that enabled him to prophesy the Messiah's coming (Deut. 18:18). When he needed help, God gave him Aaron to aid his faltering speech and Aaron and Hur to uphold his overburdened hands. Elijah also underwent a period of purification in the wilderness of human belief, and thereafter he found in Elisha a human friend with whom to share his spiritually ascending experiences, and on whom finally to bestow the mantle of his power.

Many other instances of close friendships are recorded in the Bible. In their mission of doing good, Jesus' disciples went about together, both before and after their Master's ministry. Mark records that on one occasion Jesus sent forth the twelve "by two and two" (6:7). While some of these friendships were subjected to severe trials, they endured to the end because they were based on something higher than human attraction. They had their inception in spiritual convictions loved and shared.

Christian Scientists will prove friendship to be eternal when they understand more fully man's true spiritual sonship and at-one-ment with Soul. To be at one with Soul is to reflect the Mind of Christ and to be identified with Soul's idea. The Christ, this true idea, never fails, and one who is standing with the Christ is never unhappy, unlovely, or estranged from his own pure sense of himself and others. It is only by the limited material sense that man's true nature is hidden. Belief in materiality is all there ever is to any fiery trial or fear of evil.

Holding fast our vision of the Christ, we may heal each broken tie, however bad the break may be. It is a privilege to forgive and forget, to embrace our brother in our loving thought, and to learn that in order to be reconciled to human beings we need to be reconciled to God and to the Christ-idea. Expressing this idea ourselves, we see it manifest in others. This is the only basis upon which secure and lasting friendship can be built and the truth demonstrated that man's real relationship to his brother is as eternal as his sonship with God.

Jesus did not lose sight of sonship. He made eternal friendships. In the final hour of his ascension, when he relinquished all human ties, he lifted up his hands and blessed his followers. His whole life had been a blessing and continues to be a benediction to mankind. From the depths of compassion and understanding he addressed Judas as friend just before the betrayal. In the judgment hall he turned and looked upon the unhappy Peter, who had fulfilled Jesus' prophecy of denial. Later his blessing and forgiveness were manifest to Peter in the command, "Feed my sheep," which required of the impetuous disciple a proof of loyalty to the Christ-ideal and made clear to him the way of redemption.

Have we at some time in our human experience betrayed or forsaken the Christ-idea? Have we believed that some phase of sin or sickness was governing our brother? Have we yielded to the temptation self-righteously to judge or envy or compete with him? In our efforts to help him, have we been wise enough not to plant even one unnecessary thorn? Has our love been so pure that we have understood when the human need was for comfort rather than for rebuke? And if rebuke has seemed unavoidable, have we tempered it with all the tenderness at our command? To honest and humble seekers, however far they may have strayed, Jesus spoke tender words of correction and healing in gentleness and mercy. It was only the hypocritical thought that he sharply rebuked.

One of the admonitions to be found in his Sermon on the Mount is this (Matt. 7:1,2): "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged." Hear also the words of Paul (Rom. 2:1), "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

After saying that nothing but sin in the students themselves could separate them from her, Mrs. Eddy admonishes (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 81), "Therefore we should guard thought and action, keeping them in accord with Christ, and our friendship will surely continue." With clear vision she provides in the Manual of The Mother Church for authorized Christian Science practitioners, teachers, and lecturers to help us and speed us on our way. These workers are well aware that in order to bring forth the greatest good they must stand together as one united company, loving, sustaining, and blessing each other.

Mrs. Eddy had many friends among her students and followers, as well as among those who were in no way connected with Christian Science, and anyone who has closely studied her life will know how tenderly she cherished these true friends. So should all Christian Scientists cherish each other. Understanding humanity's need of the love that heals, we must see that our ' hands are always gentle, as were the Master's and our Leader's. Recognizing the individual's true selfhood as spiritual and perfect, we shall regard him as our friend and brother despite the clamor of the carnal mind. Then shall we be able trustingly to place him in the care of the divinely tender relative and Friend of all, and leave him there.

Well does one student remember a wonderful afternoon when over and over again a practitioner repeated the words of a loved hymn, "Earth has no sorrow but Love can remove." At the moment grief was not assuaged, but during the next few days the student thought of these words many times, and the healing was soon accomplished. And it was indeed comforting on another occasion to be assured that the one who had passed on could be remembered only by the good he had done, for God, good, is the only Life of man.

In Ephesians (2:4, 6) we read, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, . . . hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." The togetherness of all those who follow the Master which Paul stressed is as necessary now as it was then, both to individual progress and to the spiritual advancement of mankind. In the words of a hymn (Christian Science Hymnal, No. 217):