Best Friend

The other day in the car, Barnaby was telling someone about a particular SNL digital video which we love so much. He said my best friend’s kids made the video. I noticed myself starting to object to the term “best friend” but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to distract from the point he was making. Best friend? This is not how I would have described a person who is not my own age and who I have only seen a few dozen times. What was my objection to him saying that my prayer partner was my best friend? We have been talking on the phone 3 mornings per week since January of 2004 (in the beginning we spoke 5 days per week). We have shared the most intimate details of our lives. She knows practically everything about me and always sees and knows the best for me. I paused on that thought. She knows the best for me. She sees it when I cannot see it myself. Yes, I concluded, she is a best friend. I have more than one prayer partner and I am grateful to have a life full of best friends and people who know the highest and best for me. Sometimes my best friend is my mother, sometimes it is my husband, or brother, or teacher, or sometimes it is even me…