Good company, precious and joy-giving, results from one's expression of God, divine Love, in daily life. Unselfish interest, the sharing of ideas that enrich and uplift, mutual trust, and other worthy traits, blending harmoniously, like musical tones, make up the symphony of good company. Bad company, pulling downward, has not one true tone. Dazzling though its illusions may seem to mortal sense, bad company has nothing that can attract the spiritually minded individual.
Mrs. Eddy writes on page 8 of her Message to The Mother Church for 1900, "The good man imparts knowingly and unknowingly goodness; but the evil man also exhales consciously and unconsciously his evil nature—hence, be careful of your company."
Nehemiah, who rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem, refused to be lured by evil suggestions. He is a noble example of single-mindedness, of loyalty to good. He relates (Neh. 6): "Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. ...Yet they sent unto me four times after this sort; and I answered them after the same manner."
