How to be a true friend

Lately I have been looking through some old notepads and journals from my uni (that's college for those overseas) days. It's been interesting.
At the top of one page of a book I have written Luke 10: 25-37 `how to be a true friend'.
It is of course the parable of the good samaritan.
Friendship is something that is important but it is something that, in today's world, is seriously taken for granted.
We have email, sms, the telephone, internet chat lines, facebook all pretending to keep us connected with our friends. I think they do more bad than good sometimes.
We weren't made to have virtual relationships with people. Unfortunately, especially in a place like Sydney, life has become so busy and stressful we take the easy way out. Instead of catching up in person we phone, or email (phoning is preferable in my books) and we lose the human touch that we all need from time to time.
This is where I can't understand why some people I know shy away from the personal touch. It is like keeping a distance. You can't hug your phone, the computer can't put a reassuring hand on your shoulder and the internet won't offer you anything personal.
One thing I try hard to do when I see those friends who are highly valued is tell them so. One or two don't know how to react to that, and I think it is a guy thing, but I feel it is important that people you care about know.
One thing I have to improve is actually spending more time with certain people, and this hectic city doesn't help in that respect, but it is also up to me (and them) to come up with a workable solution. The result can only be good.
(By the way Adam, I wrote this partly because of what you wrote. Cheers.)