No Friend As Loyal
Mark Twain once said: “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them”, which is used here as a perfect segue to a subsequent statement by Ernest Hemingway; “There is no friend as loyal as a book”. Two great writers, neither of whom were known to be overtly spiritual, are famously quoted on the potential value of books, not just any books or even their own books, but “good books”. Twain, who rarely came up short or empty with descriptive, humorous insight for nearly any matter, was once rendered momentarily speechless, when without prior notice, he faced in theatrical personification, the most pivotal subject of his unspiritual life, the deeply religious, Joan of Arc. Hemingway, who’s characters were rich with life, summarily dismissed the concept of human loyalty while embracing the undeniable attraction of inanimate loyalty to the written word. Pulling these two thoughts together, by using the most widely read and quoted “good” book of all time, is accomplished where; “Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.” (Matthew 26:35 ESV). The often dramatic Peter along with the other Apostles pledged absolute loyalty to the Son of God, then later did in fact falter in that loyalty as Jesus told them they would. We know this because we’ve read the good book, which, according to the doubting Twain gives us a distinct advantage over others who have not. Yet despite our subsequent awareness, supported by two of the most insightful writers in modern history, we still rely on loyalty as the foundation for most of our relationships. God warned and then showed us that human loyalty is fickle, regardless of the dedication of the “professors” of that loyalty.
The good book or Holy Bible, should be the physical half of our most loyal companion. The other half is in the living personification of that book, the Holy Spirit. Faith and understanding often seem the oddest of kin, because too often one appears only when the other is entirely absent. That’s a flawed approach to a loyal family and where the two jointly must come into play. Faith, when developed with understanding, not apart from it, is the unbreakable foundation of loyalty. It took the earthly death and return of our Savior for His Apostle’s to learn this. Knowing the man alone wasn’t enough, they needed to experience the ultimate power of the Son of God to close their loyalty deal. We can experience that same power with the unified help of our most loyal companion, the good book and it’s living personification.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE (share)
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