Response to Mary Marcil's question.

Mary asks, "When there is a friendship that just flows smoothly and is enjoyed without struggle, can it ever truly flourish?"

I don't think that friendship in any way requires struggle to flourish, particularly not loose friendships. I have some people that I consider "good friends" and they are just that because there has been no struggle (or very little) between us. My definition of a flourishing friendship with a "good friend" is one in which (as someone said in class today) months can pass in between conversations but when you do reconnect it feels like no time has passed at all. I think these kinds of friendships are particularly special simply because, for whatever reason, we have found someone that we feel undeniably and permanently connected to. This kind of friendship may not flourish extravagantly, but it does indeed leave a lasting impression on the people who are in the friendship. That simple fact in itself is enough, to me, to constitute a flourishing friendship.
When it comes to best friends, though, I think that flourishing is a little different. Anyone that we care that deeply for we are bound to piss off at some point. Perhaps we feel that we owe our best friends our deepest honesty and sometimes they just don't want to hear it. Or maybe we love that person so much that we give them tough love for their own sake. In that sense, I think that struggle is inevitable in that type of friendship, but is it necessary? No. I think it just comes with the territory of caring deeply about a person's well being and not always about hurting their feelings. On that note, best friends also have to know when to lessen the grip on the friendship. It has to be somewhat flexible or it will break under all of the pressure.
In short, I think that some friendships learn a lot and are strengthened through struggle, but other friendships flourish precisely because there is no struggle. It all depends on the type of friendship and the type of person that you are friends with.