Aquinas Institute - Arete Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

Page 25 text:

Friendship, next to love of God, is the finest thing we can possess. A true friendship is rare and something that cannot be measured in terms other than love and fidelity. Perhaps too few of us really can fathom the meaning of friend. We do not fully realize what great fruits it can bear to be used in times of trials and loneliness. It is something that can never be lost and it is better by far to have only one real friend than many so-called ones. Perhaps it is a little premature to speak of it now, but in later life we will realize the truth of these words. It is difficult to speak concretely of such a subject for all of our natures are so diversified. Some of us are impervious and utterly passive to all that happens. But the feelings and mutual fidelity that exists between two friends is a universal language. That much we know. In years to come when we shall have left our mark upon the face of life w»e will look back in retrospection upon these days and it will be with much difficulty that we will recognize ourselves. There are so many forces acting upon ourselves, molding our destinies that we change daily never the person tomorrow that we are today. Some of us shall be failures and some successes, but each of us is entitled to an equal share of happiness. Some will be rich in experience and others will live drab, prosaic lives. But those who go through life living a set pattern will be satisfied, for no man can keep suppressed within himself a desire to live and seek his share of happiness. Sometimes we often wish we could gaze into the future and foresee what it holds for us, but it is better this way for each tomorrow brings a new adventure, new worlds to conquer. That is the fascination of living—this perpetual waiting to see the sunrise. Without it we should surely be lost. And above all we must be able to say that we have accomplished something. In that is the summation of all our life—a task and its completion. Always let us remember that happiness lies within ourselves. Again it may seem too soon to speak of this business of living, but when w'e are in what is affectionately termed our twilight years, we will remember and be grateful that we did prepare ourselves—that we went forward into the shining world with our armor of Faith and shield of happiness and thus did we conquer all things. AQUINAS INSTITUTE 21