There are some who will tell you that you should avoid all special affection or friendship, as likely to engross the heart, distract the mind, excite jealousy, and what not. But they are confusing things. They have read in the works of saintly and devout writers that individual friendships and special intimacies are a great hindrance in the religious life, and therefore they suppose it to be the same with all the world, which is not at all the case. Whereas in a well-regulated community every one’s aim is true devotion, there is no need for individual intercourse, which might exceed due limits;—in the world those who aim at a devout life require to be united one with another by a holy friendship, which excites, stimulates and encourages them in well-doing. Just as men traversing a plain have no need to hold one another up, as they have who are amid slippery mountain paths, so religious do not need the stay of individual. - St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to a Devout Life

I loved this thought when I read it this morning. How necessary are true friends in such a culture as ours! Friends you can rely on to remain with you in spirit, in the midst of difficulty; friends to whom you can confide your most cherished desires, hopes, and struggles; friends who recognize their true End and yours as being Eternal Beatitude with God, and who live their lives in accordance with this End as best they can -- if you can find friends like these, you are blessed indeed. Even one such friend is a saving grace in an ocean of loneliness.