The Washington times., 1903-08-22
Ube international SUNDAY School Lesson
AUGUST
FOR AUGUST %.

in himself, or for that others own sake,
and not because of what that other is
TO the loving one. Friendship is love
with the selfish element eliminated. In
other words, friendship consists in be-
ing friend. not in having a friend"
The Lord Jesus Christ exalted friend
ship to the very highest degree when
He said to his disciples, Il call you not
servants. but friends"
Friendship is called by some the
master passion" Besides being one of
the noblest possibilities OF the human
soul. ii is often the basis of success
and great achievement in life. Many a
man can trace his rise in the world to
the fact that he had a friend at criti-
cal moment.
Great souls by instinct to others turn
Demand alliance and in friendship burn.
Friendship is the holiest of gifts;
God can bestow nothing more sacred
upon US; 1t enhances every Joy, mitigates
every pain. Everyone can have a friend
who knows himself how to be a friend. ."
Once let friendship be given that Is
born Of God, nor time nor circumstance
can change 1t to a lessening: 1t must
be mutual growth, increasing trust,
widening faith. enduring patience. for
giving love. unselfish ambition, and an
affection built before the Throne which
will bear the test of time and trial
The friendship between two or more
persons tends to universal good will
The love of one helps US to love all.
Jesus, the Christ of God, was the
measureless lover. True friendship Is
a contract for veal or woe. for better or
for worse, for life or sfor death. The
main question about II should not be what
we can gain by 1t, but what we can give
Every power for good in true friend
ship is a power for evil IN the false"
An Ideal Friendship.
Tho friendship of Jonathan and David
had all the genuine qualities of ideality
about it. Among all the beautiful ex-
amples of noble friendship the world
has ever seen none is more beautiful and
illustrious than that of these two i'm
mortal lovers-that of the prince royal
of the house of Israel and the shepherd
poet and warrior of Bethlehem Begin
ming in the thrilling moments when the
STRIPPING slew the blatant Philistine and
in modest manner returned to the ap-
plauding army and TO his Rstonished
monarch, and continuing till one lay
dead on the battlefield. eliciting the pa
thetic dirge of his lover, this union of
hearts was ideal. 1t kindles respect for
our human kind 1t rebukes our little
ness and meanness and makes US
ashamed not 10 have exalted some soul
beside our own.
Friendship has been defined as that
condition which exists when 'one soul
occupies two bodies" By II each one
gives over ones very self or ones en-
tire possessions to another" 1t is like
true marriage covenant. their sepa-
rate identity is lost in a common life" ="
Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat
It is true that "the marriage OF souls
is a heavenly mystery which we cannot
explain; but IT is also true that we can
see some of the conditions necessary to
the strongest and most abiding friend
ship"
At any rate, an attachment and affec-
tion of the deepest nature and import
existed between these two scrlptural
characters, which all critics acknowl-
edge to be a model of their kind. Some
of the characteristics of the friendship
of Jonathan and David were these:
I. II was based on love at first sight.
This is the best kind of love. all other
things being equal. because IL is q
natural and spontaneous love. When
David, the young champion OF the