A middling collection of friends

Friendship is a tenuous term. Much of what is called "friendship" is not much more than acquaintance. I know. When I look around my present situation, it is hard to count my friends, rather than acquaintances, on more than one hand. I suppose it depends on how you define friendship. When I think of friends, I want to assign a meaning which presupposes a relationship in which the participants have interests in common, share the desire to be together, would make sacrifices for the other. The test of a friendship, and its depth, would involve something akin to any component of character. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of character and defined the value of character as being greater when tested in times of trial. This is probably self-evident. For instance, taking the characteristic of loyalty, you might say someone is loyal, but until that sense of loyalty overcomes one's self-interest so that the loyalty a higher priority than one's own interest, then it would be difficult to say that one is loyal. The acid test is how one responds in times in trial or test. In that regard, a friendship is tested by how one responds when one's friend is in need and it is not in your interest to help. In this regard, I probably have a few true friends here in Griffin. A few more in Atlanta. Maybe a couple in other places around the country, but none of them have such a connection that they are really even aware of my needs. Perhaps if they were told of some need I had, they might try to help. But I have so few connections to them that it is doubtful that I could go to them to help.

This is sad, but probably realistic. On the other hand, how much can you expect from your friends in normal circumstances? In history, there are examples of great friendships. Friendships which stood up to the test of trial and became greater than simple acquaintance. Greater, than the every day friendship. Sadly, it is uncommon. Particularly in our self-interested world.