“Yes, pray for whom thou lovest; if uncounted wealth were thine—
the treasures of the boundless deep, the riches of the mine—
Thou couldst not to thy cherished friends a gift so dear impart,
As the earnest benediction of a deeply prayerful heart.”
FRIENDSHIP which does not pray lacks a most sacred element. It leaves God out, and that is leaving out friendship’s best possibilities of blessing. Earth’s sweetest joy needs heaven to make it complete. Wisely has it been written, “Pray for whom thou lovest; thou wilt never have any comfort of his friendship for whom thou dost not pray.” Certain it is, at least, that truest, deepest, realest comfort cannot come to us from a friend whose name we do not speak to God in love’s pleading. The holiest experience of friendship is in communion with God. Only to God can the heart’s most sacred longings for a friend be uttered.
“Yes, pray for whom thou lovest; thou mayest vainly, idly seek
The fervid thoughts of tenderness by feeble words to speak.
Go, kneel before thy Father’s throne, and meekly, humbly there
Ask blessing for the loved one in the silent hour of Prayer.
And should thy flowery path of life become a path of pain,
The friendship formed in bonds like these thy spirit shall sustain;
Years may not chill, nor change invade, nor poverty impair
The love that grew and flourished at the holy time of prayer.”
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