May these words I write and the reflections of my yearning heart be pleasant before you O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. I wish to delightfully repeat these words as I steal a quick glance at the Book of Psalms (a biblical reference) without having the slightest motive of mimicking the modern style of some popular orthodox preachers.
How Friendship Begun
Friendship originated countless centuries ago dating back to Adam’s time of existence. And we currently belong to a society where the volume of success and advantage one gets or achieve is largely dependent on the cooperative nature of his/her friends. Well goes the close adage, Identify your friend and it’s got something to do with your personality.
No wonder good parents often encourage their young ones in schools to refer to their invaluable learning resources like their textbooks for study as their “good friends”.
The past history of Africa’s concept of lifestyle in most societies did not openly reveal the idea of encouraging teens and young adults of opposite sexes and /or unmarried folks to remain in a close and constant friendship with each other. In certain places when one was married, he/she was limited in the number of friends he/she could acquire.
The Basis of Friendship
With the ideals of Christianity is the concept however that God is the Author of every good thing. He is seen also as the Author of Friendship by lots of Christians in all across the globe. Soon as one accepts Christianity he/she learns that He becomes a friend to all our well-mannered friends and a foe to all those who see themselves as our foes. This is due to the fact that we share all our happiness with people in good communication links with us. And we feel the joy they experience. However we do our best to avoid the bad company of those who in the view of society are seen as adamant people, bandits and all people who would do nothing less than to perform foolery in our society. Such people are let to the mercy of nature, the environment and to the full rigour of the laws of the land.
The Motives of A Friend
For most people their friends have a great deal of influence on their deeds and actions. They fall in danger when their friends take them to the wrong places and safety do they experience as a result of the good decisions of their well-cultured friends. Similarly, good friends become united in pursuing the right goals in life, and bad people enlarge in numbers for framing evil plans like armed robbery, riots and violence in any town.
The Religion Factor
The religion factor however is that a Christian might easily and simply encourage someone he/she befriends to adjust his/her lifestyle to suit the Christian faith. So would a Muslim convince and eulogise his/her tenets and principles of life in front of his/her close friend or acquaintance. Friendliness must be exhibited by people at all times and should be a part and parcel of a man or a woman’s nature if they really mean to get the best life offers. You cannot just be friendly for friendship sake but chances are that you would definitely have all the chances to achieve your targets. This nature of being considered kind gives individuals the opportunity to obtain good counsel or advice which would go a long way to serve as the pivot for success in the lives of such individuals. It does not necessary mean keep smiling each time if by nature you find it difficult doing so sometimes. We cannot all be very jovial and that would be mere pretense, a sham and make-belief.
Dangers Involved With A Select Few Friendship Plan
One would make himself/herself a mocking stock and would be a mockery to the entire world if he/she is not cautious enough and having displayed his/her constancy to only one particular friend, or to be very much more precise to only a select few friends, all his/her lifetime and suddenly experiences much to his/her disbelief that there is a break up. What would others say at that point?
Good friendship is bound to exist at all times; right from one’s infancy till he/she departs in peace from this world. This is certainly a fact and those who refuse to be nice to you presently might soon discover that the world itself is bigger than a “husband and wife”, a “boyfriend/girlfriend and his/her intimate or bosom friend”, “parents and their children” and bigger than a “brother/sister and his/her sibling”.
Be sure to put a little smile on your face when you get to the premises of a function or an organisational set up, lest your conscience would force you to swallow the truth like some bitter pills when the case could probably be such that the fellow, unknown to you, you frowned to some moments there earlier might be the person to usher you to take your chair or drink. This world could also be a little cruel to you in case you have a gender biased personality when you become surprised to learn that the ablest and exact individual capable of rendering expert advice, service or intelligence support to you belongs to gender different from yours.
We must endeavour, try as much as possible and feel free in being friendly towards people in general provided that our “natural instincts” does not sound the red alert for us to stay further away from any of such people. Many Christians for one believe in the “still silent voice of the Lord” which is always present with them which would in their favour forewarn them to escape from an impending dangerous or harmful person.
Beyond A Shadow of Doubt
Beyond every shadow of doubt there are associations and groups bringing together past students and alumni of a particular institution, high school, or for that of one establishment or another. These societies are there to foster a lasting cordial friendship with people despite their cultural background or integration. This seeks tellingly to inform us that life is very much more than “me and my best friend”.
By Ebenezer K N Baiden-Amissah
Email: e.baidenamissah@gmail.com