By Jack O'Brien
In Creamer's Media Engineering News Online
One of life's most valuable gifts is friendship. It is not only precious – it is a necessity. Robert Louis Stevenson, the author, wrote: "So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend."
The person who understood the spiritual nature of true friendship was Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. "What is a friend?" he asks. "A single soul dwelling in two bodies" is his answer.
An anonymous writer reveals how he became aware that an old acquaintance was, in fact, a trustworthy friend. "Today I have added to my wealth a priceless treasure. To find it I did not have to dive to the bottom of the sea, nor blast the granite mountainside, nor dig a field, quarry a mine, nor play a sharper's trick. I looked straight into a man's clear eye, spoke a true word, received a signal of understanding, and now, for life, I have a friend."
Genuine friendship is not merely a matter of feeling – it reveals itself in action: "A true friend is one who will recognise me when necessity compels me to wear shabby clothes; who will take my hand when I am sliding downhill, instead of giving me a push to hasten my descent; who will give me a dollar when I really need it, without demanding two dollars as security; who will come to me when I am sick; who will pull off his coat and fight for me when the odds are two to one against me; who will talk of me behind my back as he talks to my face."
Dostoevski, the Russian writer, speaking from his own experience, tells us that the solution to mankind's troubled life on earth is love and friendship in place of hatred and animosity.
"Love is what makes us truly human, creatures of God, a God who is love. Love will teach us all things, but we must learn how to win love; it is got with difficulty; it is a possession dearly bought with much labour and in a long time; for one must love not sometimes only, for a passing moment, but always. There is no man who does not sometimes love; even the wicked can do that.
"And let not men's sins dishearten you," he continued. "Love a man even in his sin, for that love is a likeness of the divine love, and is the summit of love on earth. Love all God's creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in all; and when once you perceive this, you will thenceforward grow every day to a fuller understanding of it; until you come at last to love the whole world with a love that will then be all-embracing and universal."
In Creamer's Media Engineering News Online
One of life's most valuable gifts is friendship. It is not only precious – it is a necessity. Robert Louis Stevenson, the author, wrote: "So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend."The person who understood the spiritual nature of true friendship was Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. "What is a friend?" he asks. "A single soul dwelling in two bodies" is his answer.
An anonymous writer reveals how he became aware that an old acquaintance was, in fact, a trustworthy friend. "Today I have added to my wealth a priceless treasure. To find it I did not have to dive to the bottom of the sea, nor blast the granite mountainside, nor dig a field, quarry a mine, nor play a sharper's trick. I looked straight into a man's clear eye, spoke a true word, received a signal of understanding, and now, for life, I have a friend."
Genuine friendship is not merely a matter of feeling – it reveals itself in action: "A true friend is one who will recognise me when necessity compels me to wear shabby clothes; who will take my hand when I am sliding downhill, instead of giving me a push to hasten my descent; who will give me a dollar when I really need it, without demanding two dollars as security; who will come to me when I am sick; who will pull off his coat and fight for me when the odds are two to one against me; who will talk of me behind my back as he talks to my face."
Dostoevski, the Russian writer, speaking from his own experience, tells us that the solution to mankind's troubled life on earth is love and friendship in place of hatred and animosity.
"Love is what makes us truly human, creatures of God, a God who is love. Love will teach us all things, but we must learn how to win love; it is got with difficulty; it is a possession dearly bought with much labour and in a long time; for one must love not sometimes only, for a passing moment, but always. There is no man who does not sometimes love; even the wicked can do that.
"And let not men's sins dishearten you," he continued. "Love a man even in his sin, for that love is a likeness of the divine love, and is the summit of love on earth. Love all God's creation, both the whole and every grain of sand. Love every leaf, every ray of light. Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing. If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in all; and when once you perceive this, you will thenceforward grow every day to a fuller understanding of it; until you come at last to love the whole world with a love that will then be all-embracing and universal."
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