What is a friend?

Little did Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, realize that he would reinvent the definition of a word. For years, "friend" has successfully existed as a noun in the English language and thanks to Mark, the word friend can go "both ways" from Noun to Verb. ie. "I will friend you on Facebook".

So what is a friend? The definition appears to shift in today's popular culture. Am I really friends with the obscure people with whom I went to high school and never talked to even then. Now, number years later, could we really be friends?

When you have a true friend, it is obvious. We have all received the chain emails with the eloquently crafted prose about what a friend is and what they mean to you (and if you don't forward this email to 10 friends in 1 hour you will have bad luck for the next year).

What I am thinking about now is a "friend" who really is more of an acquaintance. I am thinking of someone whom I didn't know well. He is now retiring and moving to another state and I am feeling an unexpected feeling of loss despite the fact that I have not seen him in several years. Periodically we have email exchanges over business, but there was comfort knowing he was here, in AZ. As he prepares for a wonderful adventure in another state, I am left wondering if there is another layer of the word "friend". Is there a spiritual level of the word friend where you may not know much about the person, yet you resonate and feel at peace knowing they are there. They are a mentor, guide and a comfort in the most distant way. Clearly, this friend which is more of an acquaintance is at least as deserving of the word friend as many I correspond with on Facebook. Au Revoir Louis, my "friend". You've made a difference in ways you will never know.