The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1916-09-21

Cannot Aluays
Keep our Friends
HELPFUL FRIENDSHIP.
(Written for The Review !

:; quently heard IN regard to the selection
of ones friends. This is good advic
only in part. The true idea is not cor
rectly expressed, or only partially SC
All friends. sohuld be well chosen, bu
no one can have too many of the righ
kind. For one to limit by preference
the number of friends to a restricted
few may, in the course of time and life's
ever changing circumstances, whe1
friends forced asunder by inexorable
4, fate and no longer privileged of able to
respond to the needs or. contribute tc
the help of each other, bring home, in
the most forceful and unpleasant man
ner, the fallacy, of this unwise, though
well meaning it, may be, advice and
preference.
But rather ''there should be both quail
ity and quantity in all friendship. Meth
er one should be acquired at the expense
of the other. Both may be maintained
and neither suffer" Both are desirable,
both are needful, both are necessary, in
the fuller development of helpful asso-
citation and to meet more fully it's So
cial need.
Let us not turn away carelessly from
any who would fill the place of safe
and proper friend. We may at some
time need them all. Too often when
friends are most needed there is sad
lacking of the needed helpfulness-
lind one has right to expect from a
true friend.
With the evil minded and improper
friendships there can be no safe affilia
ton. Self regard and personal safety
demand the most watchful care in the
acceptance Of intimate association and
confidential friendship. With the good
and true there is alone, safety.
We cannot always keep the same
friends with us Or near us. Time moves
swiftly on and, in the kaleidoscope
movement of human affah none are
left untouched by the rapidly changing
conditions of life. The friend you may
have mad yesterday laay tints ven beyend
his help today and he whose responsive
assistance now would be SO acceptable
might have gladly responded to the
claim of your need had you not so cold
" turned from him when he stood in
sore need of you.
Old friends are constantly passing
away and new ones come to occupy a
new place IN our life. Our paths so of
ten diverge, sometimes leading in oppo-
site directions and into new fields of
endeavor Yet there was no faithless
ness to mar the memory of the past, no
ruthless breaking of old ties, and friends
of bygone days are not forgotten. When
with us they were true to every duty
and did what they could to help us along
life's often weary way. They conscien-
tiously fulfilled every obligation, low
ingly responded to every claim and faith
fully measured up to every requirement.
We learned to love. and trust them when
in frequent association with them and
shall ever love and believe in them
though onw absent and far removed
from us Their friendship, SO gener--
ously and sweetly given, shall ever be
bright spot in the dark background of
our life.
There is scarcely word ia the Eng
lish language more precious than that
of friend No matter what our personal
relations may be with another we place
first that of friends. When this ques-
ton is satisfactorily settled in our
mind, then alone we feel safe in giving
such one our full. confidence and en-
trusting our most sacred interest. Love,
the strongest yet the tenderest of hu-
man passions, demands faithfulness of
it's object and will often droop and die
before the falsity Of a trusted friend.
Whether husband or wife, whether child
or parent, whether sweetheart or KIN
dred, whether neighbor or acquaintance,
to be first a friend is the foremost re-
quirement of each one. When the real
itv of a friend is established all other
conditions of human experiences will
naturally and safely adjust themselves.
! When we speak of friendship it is
generally suggestive of certain recogniz-
ed social relations existing only between
perscns with no other obligations to
each other than the natural force of
attraction which draws them together in
congenial association, but the strongest
and dearest friendships in all the world
should be found in the home life be-
tween members of the same family, for
there it is often most needed and yet so
often, though maintained in form, lack
ing in the true spirit of deep personal
interest. In the many opportunities for
rendering help and giving encourage