Multiply the Love in Our Hearts

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things..... Love never fails" I Corinthians 13.4-8 (New King James Version) 

Love is serious topic these days. Love is one of those things that is very hard to even pin down on what it is. In modern day context, Love is something we give to not only our dog, our family, our lovers/significant others, but it is also something we give to brands that we can't live without. I have got to the point lately where I don't even like to say I love Reese's cups, or any other assorted brands of chocolate. In this modern day of Rugged individualism, there is definitely Not Enough Love in Our hearts.

Last week we made momentous strides in the area of Love and Justice. With the Supreme Court striking down section 4 of  DOMA (The Defense of Marriage Act) , using the Equal protection cause. Marriages of Same Sex couples in 14 states in the United States now have the same rights and protections. There is still much work to be done with the other 37 states that still have discrimination enshrined in their Laws or in their states' Constitutions (including North Carolina)....Maybe we can find Love in our hearts 

Also in North Carolina, July 1st was the start of dangerous time for many families within the borders of the 100 counties from the mountains to the beach. More than 70,000 unemployed instantly lost their benefits. These benefits were going to people who in most cases were still looking for work (and with three people applying to every one job). I bring up these people to illustrate that Love is not shown to our fellow man.......Maybe we can multiply the Love in our hearts 

As I noted in the scripture earlier, "Love never fails"........I know sometimes we get beat down by the ever present doubt in our humanity. Doubt that is also ever present in the world surrounding us. Love, however, blows doubt away. I end with a song from Joyful Noise 

Let us multiply the love in our hearts, not only toward our loved ones, but toward ourselves, and to the stranger who we don't know........