LOVE: THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL

We need oxygen to breathe, it's evident. There's also monetary things that most people assume they NEED to get by in this life. Well, to be frank, money makes the world go round and without it, we couldn't pay for gas in the car, cover the rent or mortgage, neither could we afford the delicious food our bodies need to sustain us.

But more than anything, we as humans need LOVE. It doesn't cost a thing. It's FREE. You can give it freely and receive it freely.

Look at the state of the world right now. It's in a cataclysmic mess, with mudslides in California and wildfires too, in Oregon there's fires burning rapidly, and Tampa, Florida and the eastern seaboard, Hurricane Irma has caused devastating damage. Six million people in Tampa lost power, and the flooding is surreal. People's lives are in disarray, and floods in Houston from Hurricane Harvey has left millions homeless, with only the shirt on their backs.

What the world needs now, is love, sweet love...that's what the lovely lyrics of Burt Bacharach professed from his famous song recorded by Jackie DeShannon. How ironic that in a world full of devastation, we sometimes tend to forget to support our fellow man and offer up a smile, a cup of coffee, a warm hand or a fraction of kindness.

There's only ONE gift that keeps on giving, and it has no expiry date, unlike those gift cards people might send at Christmas.

Kindness and love are synonyms for one another. I'm proud to share my love with others, to help those at risk, and to lend a hand. I live in a city in Southern Ontario that is FILLED with at-risk people, the homeless and mentally ill, and abused women and children seeking shelter. My heart breaks when I witness people sleeping on the street, with nowhere to go, except a public park or tiny hideaway near a business where they may risk being noticed and told to leave. I've handed out a pizza more than a few times to "Grizzly Adams," this one regular man who sleeps on the street. It's very humbling to see him, and he thanks me gratefully, taking the piping hot pizza in his calloused, weathered hands, eating it hungrily.

I can only imagine how shameful and scary it can seem for those on the street. Luckily, I've never hit that rock bottom, but I have come close.

For those who have no home, show them some love, will you? The kind of love that Christ himself would show.

It always enters my mind...when i see someone struggling on the street. You have no idea what their story is...and no right to judge how they got there...lest you walk a mile in their shoes.

Love always prompts the famous question...WWJD?

So keep a warm heart and open mind. Give LOVE next time you see someone who needs it.

I leave you now with a beautiful love song from 1997 that used to play on the radio quite often in Toronto where I live. Jim Brickman's classic piano melody with Michelle Wright's commanding vocals. "Your Love(is the greatest gift of all)." Such a perfect love song for the theme of this blog. Enjoy this one.

Sending you so much love,

RR xo