Years ago, I hated where I lived. My house was very close to a major road in our community, and I often slept with a pillow over my head to shut out the noise. Whether it was the thin walls of the house or the nonstop traffic from a busy street, I felt justified in my growing annoyance.
My journey to truly love my home began by pondering the teachings of Christ Jesus, the master Christian, who instructed us: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).
To me this statement revealed Jesus’ understanding of love as the very essence of God, and of man as God’s spiritual expression. He taught that all of God’s law is rooted in infinite Love, and he applied that law practically, healing multitudes of people. Sinners were reformed, the blind saw, the demented were restored to sanity, and the dead were raised.
