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"How happy I am now to have complete confidence
in you." St. Paul to his friends, 2 Corinthians
7:16.
It was Napoleon who said: "A faithful friend is the
true image of God." Perhaps the unlikely sentiment of
a conqueror ruthless in his treatment of his foes and his
friends, but an apt quote for those who value friendship,
and benefit from it. Because friendship is shared experience
it must be mutually beneficial to the friends with its essential
elements of honesty, sensitivity and selflessness. He who
has a friend is rich whatever his circumstances.
W.B. Yeats said:
"Think where man's glory most begins and ends.
And say my glory was I had such friends."
Joseph Scriven, the Banbridge-born hymnist, described the
one true friend of human kind and the advantages of friendship
with Him.
"What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer."
The disciples, His intimate friends, were friends to one
another, serving together in the cause of Christ. It was to
be said of them: "See how these Christians love one another."
They gave content to a thought like this,
"A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you
your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith;
sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognises your
disabilities, but emphasises your possibilities."
William Ward.
False friends appear in many guises to harm personal relationships,
for they are insecure and hypocritical. The abuse of friendship
comes when we suffer from the speech and silence of those
we took to be our friends. It is better to have an open enemy
than a false friend. The cynic suggests that in trying to
trust one with another we should not trust a new friend or
an old enemy. But the scriptures tell us how we should treat
our enemies.
If your enemy is hungry, give him food.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
This will make him feel ashamed of himself,
and God will reward you."
Proverbs 25:21,22.
False friends may show themselves for what they are but sometimes
their duplicity is so well hidden that we only discover it
in time and by chance. It is the enemy whom we do not suspect
who is the most dangerous. When false friends betray us we
are fortunate if good friends do not forsake us.
There is the advice to us:
Do not neglect your own friend or your father's, a
neighbour at hand is better than a brother far away.
Proverbs 27:10.
It was John Wesley who said that there is no such thing as
a solitary Christian. He had in mind the friendship and fellowship
of believers in Christ.
Friendship is a person to person relationship but it is more
than that, it is the attitude of people to people. It is seeing
them with the same rights, duties and responsibilities as
those we want for ourselves, and these have to do with all
that is fundamental to life in a good society. The very essence
of the teaching of Christ and Christianity is that people
should love one another.
The fact that there is so much hatred among people here and
everywhere is the evidence of their refusal to live by such
a high philosophy for living. It is the reason why the teaching
of Christ and Christianity is so apt and so much needed today.
Without that emphasis on friendship and goodness the prospect
for many people is bleak indeed. While people personally and
communally hear the Christian message they have to face up
to the need to take heed to what is the God-given expectation
and hope for them, that they love one another.
The task of Christians is to speak and to show by their lives,
in character, conduct and care for people, that the Christian
faith is heard and seen to be effective in turning them to
trust in God and friendship one with another. There is the
constant need for befriending one another across all the barriers
or race, colour and class.
Prayer:
"O Lord, keep us from all uncharitableness in
word and deed; and enable us by patient continuance in
well-being to glorify your Name, through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
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