Piggies can be our friends!
During a lifetime, each person will encounter innumerable friends. They will come. They will go. Some will be remembered. Some won’t. Many will be real. Thousands will be virtual. Yet, we call them all ‘friends’. There is really no separation. Some we see. Some we don’t. These are our circle of friends.
What makes a person a friend? Can someone be called ‘friend’ yet not truly be a friend, only act friendly? Everyday conversation occurs during which someone will reply, “Oh, he’s my friend!” or “I know her. She is a friend of mine.” Has this happened to you? Have you ever paused in wonder as to what made you identify a person as a friend? Each of us will have different thoughts and answers to that question.
We have work-friends, buddy-friends, intellect-friends, fun-friends, the talker-friend and the listener-friend. There is the big brother or big sister and of course, the friend who is like a mom or dad. Some even earn our trust as we accept them into our hearts without question. Each plays a significant role in life.
Now turn to friendship. Any difference?
Friendship is a form of love, passionate in the sense of caring and understanding but not erotic. It is resting your head on someone’s shoulder and crying out of sheer happiness or sobbing uncontrollably in times of sorrow. It is that person holding you so tight you do not want him or her to let go for you are no longer capable of separating one person’s tears from the other. It is disagreeing and finding harmony in disagreement. Those are the personal lasting friendships.
Today, with the advancement of social networking, friendship does not get applied to many situations. The friends in this environment are acquaintances that people do not even know and probably will never know. Yet, comfort can still be found, it is simply within written communication, rather than in person.
Each of us can be a friend, associate with friends, and form lasting friendships. Those that last are the ones which we truly celebrate. In other words, a celebration of friendship is when you are not only told you have dirt on your face but your friend helps you clean up your mess! This is our blessing of friendship.
Angel of Friendship
A cloud floats from Heaven
To rest upon a shoulder
A soft, billowing pillow
Where an angel abides
Quietly, gently resting
‘Til needed to leaven
Heaviness like a boulder
Laying worries aside
Who is this angel?
Quintessence of loyalty
Bearer of charity
Who offers companionship…
Listener with quiet understanding
Sunbeam smiles radiating harmony,
A messenger of amity
Ensuring a lasting relationship
Who is this angel?
This angel is the angel of friendship
©2004 Echoes
Sharla Lee Shults
catnipoflife 
All your words are true Sharla. I agree. Have a good afternoon 🙂
Beautifully said Sharla!
Wel-written analogy. The Internet creates sometimes more friemnds that we can handle, but the true friends remain while the short term ones drop off into cyberspace. and that’s good because we can’t possibly handle so many friends and need to cull the wheat from the chaff.
I respectfully disagree with some of the points made in your post today. True friends do not come and go on a regular basis. I hold the term “friend” to a much high standard, one developed over a long period of getting to know and trust each other. We’re lucky if we have a half dozen true friends in our entire lifetime.
Personally I’ve had 3 close friends. The rest of the folks I’ve known fit better into the category of acquaintances. They include fellow workers, fellow church members and people we come across during our daily lives.
Hi, Bob! I cannot disagree with what you are saying. There is a fine line between a friend and a true friend. I have had a lot of so-called friends but few I would classify as true friends. The one I treasured the most stabbed me in the back the worse so now I am gun shy with any new friendships. I truly respect your opinion and appreciate you leaving the comments.
How wonderful, Sharla…
Yes, this has happened to me. – And it has happened as well that I found out, a once “virtual friend” really became a FRIEND and was more friend than people I know a lifetime and once considered friends…
It seems sometimes the “groups” need to be re-arranged.
Thanks for a wonderful post – and an amazing poem!!