| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 20 |
Page 5 |
Then, friends are lost through misunderstanding which in many cases a few honest words at first might have removed. The proverb says, “A whisperer separateth chief friends.” Friends are lost, too, in the sharp competitions of business, in the keen rivalries of ambition; for love of money or of fame or of power or of special distinction many throw away holy friendships.
Friends are lost, too, by death. All through life the sad story of bereavement goes on. As the leaves are torn from the trees by the rude storm, so are friendships plucked from our lives by Death’s remorseless hand. There is something inexpressibly sad in the loneliness of old people who have survived the loss of nearly all their friends, and who stand almost entirely alone amid the gathering shadows of their life’s eventide. Once they were rich in human affection. Children sat about their table and grew up in their happy home; other true hearts were drawn to them along the years. But one by one their children are gathered home into God’s bosom, until all are gone. Other friends – some in one way and some in another – are also removed. At last the husband or the wife is called away, and one only survives of the once happy pair, lonely and desolate amid the ruin of all earthly gladness and the tender memories of lost joys.
Page 5