“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important:

‘Love your neighbor as yourself'”.

                                                                                            Matthew 22: 37-39 NLV

“Love your neighbor as yourself” appears in the Bible nine times.  It appears that many times because God wants us to realize the importance of loving one another. In fact, relationship, love, is what matters most in life.

Our world has entered a time of great uncertainty and fear.  A thing called a coronavirus, or Covid-19, has disrupted all certainties, all privileges, all beliefs about our ability to choose and to be safe.  We cannot cross borders or go to grocery stores anymore.  All life is focused on containing the spread of this pandemic; all choices are being curtailed in order to achieve that goal.

We are afraid, and our fight-or-flight system is in control.   What we need desperately is an antedote to this terror, and, miraculously we have one — love and love thy neighbor.  Fear cannot continue to exist in the light of love.  Now is the time to be the source of that light.  Instead of judgment for irrational behavior give compassion for the uncertainly that drives it.  Love is the answer and always has been.

My favorite Bible verse has always been I Corinthians 13-13: “Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.” NLV.  It comforts me as I sit alone in my home, practicing the recommended social distancing.  It will comfort you wherever you are.  Take it into your heart and share it with others.  The light of its truth will grow ever brighter as we share it and stand together against this pandemic with courage and loving kindness.