A boy was asked about his family, when he enrolled for church school. The teacher responded with a quizzical, "Oh," after the boy revealed that he had no brothers or sisters. To which the youngster piped, "But I've got friends!"

It is so good to have friends. But, what is a friend? Satirist Ambrose Bierce defines friendship as a ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul. This is a rather negative portrayal compared to an Arabian explanation that characterizes a friend as "one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take it and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."

In the Gospel of John, Jesus talks about love and friendship in th…