Loving with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds and with all our strength is a concept that we can all embrace. We have known this love in our lives or at least we may have thought we have at one point in time.

Remember that first ...love that we thought would last forever or just happened to be lasting forever at this very moment. Can we love all people in this way? Understand my meaning, this is not the physical love but take those feelings where we have trust, loyalty, respect and assuredness in the other person and apply that to each person that we know.

Believe me, the cynic in me is screaming at me that this will not always work. There are people who will take advantage of our good nature and step on it until we cry out or until we find that we are defending ourselves. We will learn who those people are and we must shake the dust from our feet and move on but we must also be prepared to forgive. How many times must we forgive? Jesus said seventy times seven. I will continue to give people their forgiveness and their chances. The Prodigal Son or Daughter is always welcomed home. There is no punishment that I can give that will be worse than the eternal punishment that God may apply.

Perhaps one day trust, loyalty, respect and all of those other qualities that we share with one another will be rewarded. And, may we provide these same values in all of our relationships. Perhaps one day we too will not be far from the Kingdom of God.