The Art of Being a Good Friend
One of the soul's greatest and purest pleasures!
It's celebrated by the ancient Greeks, cherished in the Old Testament - but generally misunderstood and sadly under-valued by moderns. Indeed, no matter how many friends you have, and how close you think you are to them, you probably aren't aware of the tremendous spiritual importance of friendship - true friendship - and of how crucial it is to keeping your head and your soul in our neo-pagan society.
Hugh Black, the wise Christian author of this book, argues that it's actually spiritually dangerous to let friendships remain on the superficial level that all too many people settle for nowadays - doing no more with their friends than going shopping or watching a football game together. He maintains that when you take friendship for granted in this way and don't give it the care it deserves, you turn your back on an important God-given source of spiritual vitality, joy, and comfort. But don't despair! Hugh Black also shows you how to transform superficial friendships into soul-nourishing relationships, bringing them from shallowness and frivolity to a deep communion of mind and heart - a communion that will become for you (and for them) a means for spiritual growth. Spiritual guidance for good friends - and married couples, too!
If you are married, you'll find here new ways to appreciate the gift God has given to you in your spouse. If you enjoy the blessings of other mature and spiritually oriented friendships, you'll discover in these pages innumerable ways to make them richer, so that they'll approach the full, unbounded love David had for Jonathon, that St. Francis de Sales had for St. Jane Frances de Chantal, and that Christian friends throughout the ages have enjoyed as they encounter the light of Christ that shines in the souls of other human beings. Best of all, you'll learn how to seek friendship with God. As you discover the joys of this friendship that transcends death and as you enrich your friendships here on earth, you'll come to see how truly Black speaks when he says that "no one would care to live without friends, even if he had all other good things."
- Do you really have any friends at all? Surprising ways to tell the difference between mere acquaintances and genuine friends
- Common ways you can destroy friendships without meaning to - simple ways to guard against them
- Two things you must have, or you'll never make and keep true friends!
Hugh Black 144 pages paperback
