Love One Another

 "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim in the paths of the seas." Psalm 8: 3-8

    As the embers of our campfire simmered down, my husband and I prepared to do the same, calling it a day.

    Then, in the dying light of dusk, we saw a fluttery movement near the pines that piqued our curiosity. What was that? In the beam of a flashlight, we were amazed to see three small owls, a blessed epilogue to a tiring day.

    Our daughter humorously refers to me as Snow White because we've had a menagerie of critters visit our yard: A ribbon of waddling ducks, just passing through; a fatigued family of deer napping beneath the magnolia tree; a wayward turtle trying to find his way home; a groundhog dubbed Gary who scratched at our back door; a companion squirrel named Clarence Oddtail who would lope across the yard in greeting when I came home; and finally, a few slithering snakes. Now, we have added owls to that list.

    I love most animals. They fascinate, incur laughter and foster love.

    But people? They're a different animal. Oft times, they are rather self-seeking and odious, rude and outspoken, bossy, nosy or outright mean. I join the psalmist, David, when I wonder why God cares for people, taking them by the hand (Isaiah 41:13), collecting their tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8), writing their names on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16) and laying down his life for them (Matthew 20:28)!

    Then I remember that I am a part of this race of odious humans and, when I get down to brass tacks, I have been self-seeking, rude, bossy and mean. I am part of the problem!

    It's much easier to love animals, maybe it's because we have been assigned as rulers over them. The assignment God has given us, as his followers, regarding people is much tougher. We are to "love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34) Only with his divine intervention can I take someone by the hand in prayer, listen with compassion as tears roll down their cheeks, write their names on a card of encouragement or emote the sacrificial love of forgiveness and servitude. 

"Love one another as I have loved you"

May seem impossible to do.

But if you will try to trust and believe,

Great are the joys that you will receive.

For love makes us patient, understanding and kind,

As we judge with our hearts and not with our minds.

For as soon as love enters the heart's open door,

The faults we once saw are not there anymore -

And the things that seemed wrong begin to look right

When viewed in the softness of love's gentle light

For love works in ways that are wondrous and strange,

And there is nothing in life that love cannot change,

And all that God promised will someday come true

When you have loved one another the way He loved you.

-by Helen Steiner Rice