A Friend Indeed

There is a word in the English language that is bandied about too freely. A word about which we have become too casual. That word is : friend. We consider casual acquaintances to be friends and, believe me, I’m just as guilty of this offense as anyone I know….any of my “friends” as it were.
“Oh yeah, he’s an old friend,” we might throw out about someone we’ve only met once or twice in passing to, perhaps, impress someone with the fact that we’ve even met them. We are very liberal with the word’s usage.
Let’s briefly examine the true meaning of the word. If we look at it literally, we will find that a friend and a lover the same thing. For instance, the Latin word for friend, amicus clearly reflects amare, to love, just as the Ancient Greek words philos and philein do .
Friendship is considered one of the central human experiences, and has been sanctified by all major religions. The Greco-Romans had, as a paramount example, the friendship of Orestes and Pylades. The Abrahamic faiths have the story of David and Jonathan. The Christian Gospels state that Jesus Christ declared, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."
True friendship involves quite a bit more than just being acquainted. Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating a number of qualities on a consistent basis: the tendency to desire what is best for each other, sympathy and empathy, honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth (who else will tell you when your fly is down or that there’s spinach in your teeth) and mutual understanding.
A person who is dependable in good times, but not in times of trouble is known as a “fair-weather friend.” They cannot be depended on and are not really our friends.
I know you’re probably wondering just what prompted these musings on the meaning of the word “friend.” Well, it was an e-mail I got from, of all people, a friend. It went something like this:
Here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship. You will see no cutesy little smiley faces on these, just the stone cold truth of great friendship:
1. When you are sad ...I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry clown who made you sad.
2. When you are blue ...I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.
3. When you smile ...I will know you probably got lucky last night.
4. When you are scared ...I will rag on you about it every chance I get.
5. When you are worried ...I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.
6. When you are confused ...I will use little words.
7. When you are sick ...Stay the hell away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.
8. When you fall ...I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.
This is my oath; I pledge it to the end. "Why?" you may ask; "because you are my friend."
And always remember: when life hands you lemons, ask for tequila and salt and give me a call.

THAT’S HOW I FEEL………………WHAT CAN I TELL YA’