All we Need is Love

“I will not mince words when I name two of the great forces against which we must contend, greed and fear. They have stalked the dark forests of our souls for longer than we have memory. They are primal, persistent, powerful, ever seeking to subvert the will of God. They exist in every human culture and from them none of us is immune. But if we name them, if we turn the clear light of truth on them, they shrink in size and wither before the justice of heaven. We need to turn that light on now. We need to be light-keepers through the storm to come.” ~Steven Charleston

In this busy and turbulent lifestyle that we have adopted into our culture, I find very little time to simply be with my children and grandchildren. It seems that just about every time we are together it is for an occasion. That means that we are not really together in an intimate sense but a part of a gathering. I find that we communicate by phone (voice and text), email, or through passed on information.

Yesterday was a rare happening. I was flying into Orlando-Sanford Airport returning from Chattanooga, TN. It turned out to be a stormy afternoon, delaying the flight for about an hour. My son-in-law had volunteered to pick me up and drive me home to Clermont. This meant that we had about an hour of one on one time. We had three primary areas of conversation, NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s win on Sunday, the family, mostly the kids, and politics.

We are in complete agreement that Jr. has broken his long streak without a win and is on a path to winning this year’s championship. When we discussed the family the topics of the economy making things tight came up along with how my daughter was dealing with four kids off for the summer while doing her work-from-home job and taking on-line classes from UCF. The bottom line there was they are a typical family with all the normal problems, yet very blessed.

When it comes to politics we are somewhat at odds. As you must realize, total agreement is difficult if not impossible to achieve in this arena. What we were able to agree on was that character, morality, honesty, justice, and mercy are very important from either side. We also were together on the fact that greed and fear were unwanted forces that seem to be driving the passion from both sides. It seemed that it was all about winning and losing, money, and control. The issues seem not to be on the people and their struggles, needs, and safety.

The ride home was to me a really great hour with a person I love and care about. It was a time that cemented the realization that the greatest action we can take or use in our daily living is being there for each other.  We decided that loving and being loved was the crux of all our valued relationships; family, friends, and relationships. When we do this the greed and fear melt away.

The quote from Bishop Charleston and the American Indian saying were two things that jumped out at me this morning when I checked e-mail and Facebook. They prompted me to theme today’s Quote of the Week. I give this to you to do with as you may, praying that it may encourage you in some way.

I.N.J.