Listen to Jesus

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Listen to Jesus

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.

Mark 4:1

As Head of Department responsible for an optional subject in a secondary school, part of my job is to try and recruit students to study my subject at GCSE and A Level.  Obviously, I hope that students have developed an interest in my subject in the lower years, and the quality of the teaching in my department draws them in.  I also try to think up various other ways of attracting students, for example I’ve just made a display featuring celebrities who studied my subject, and will also make one showing what sort of jobs people with a degree in my subject go on to get.  It’s all honest, truthful and above board, but I will admit that a bit of “selling” goes on to.  It would be amazing if large numbers of pupils chose to study my subject.  It would be even better if, once they had started, they sat  transfixed listening to every word I said.  Sadly they don’t.

It is clear in today’s verse that Jesus was different; he did not have to “sell” his message to the crowd; they turned up, probably in their hundreds, to listen to the words of this great man.  So many people had turned up on this occasion that in order to be seen, Jesus had to hop into a boat and push off from the bank.  In must have been an incredible sight to see all those people on the water’s edge, hanging off every word.  And that’s exactly what we should be doing, too; hanging off every word that Jesus says, listening to them, inwardly digesting them, and reflecting on them.

Yet again in Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus placing great importance on his teaching ministry.  Let’s ensure today that we listen carefully to what Jesus has to say to us.

Understanding the Lord’s will

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Understanding the Lord’s will

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 5:17

Sometimes I get really exasperated with my students, particularly my Sixth Formers.  They expect me simply to tell them everything that they need to know to pass their exams, and show little willingness to read for themselves or to gain their own understanding of the topic we are studying.  Unfortunately for them, if they are going to do well in their exams, then they will have to devote time to reading around the subject, thinking for themselves, and forming their own viewpoint.  This takes time, but ultimately, they will have a much better understanding of the subject, and consequently will do much better than if I had just told them what I thought they needed to know.

The Christian life is similar in some ways.  It’s great to go to church and hear thought-provoking sermons from the pulpit; I know that my own faith has been shaped immeasurably by some of the ministers I have heard preach.  If we are to develop own our understanding of who God is and what Jesus has done for us, though, we must take the time to study God’s word for ourselves – specifically by reading the Bible and reflecting on what the words before us mean for our own lives.  By doing so, we will be able to gain a much better understanding of what the Lord’s will is.  We won’t find literal answers on the page – such as who should I date, what job should I get etc – but by prayerfully reflecting on what we do read, we will be able to establish the parameters within which God wants us to lead our lives.  God’s will is displayed in scripture, but we need to reflect on it and prayer over what we read.

We must not be foolish, then, in our approach to our lives and our faith, but must try hard to discover what the Lord’s will is.

Let’s all try in the coming weeks to read our Bibles more diligently, and to reflect on what we read more deeply.

The long-term interest

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The long-term interest

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

1 Peter 4:1-2

At the school where I teach, a run a History Society.  We meet every Tuesday lunchtime, and at the moment are working our way through The Communist Manifesto. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the effort, and begin to wonder if I’d rather be enjoying a relaxed lunch with my colleagues.  Then, I think about it, however; I have always thought that investing time in extra-curricular activities is important, since it broadens students’ understanding, shapes the way that they think – and is also something that they can enjoy.  I’ve therefore made the decision that the best thing is for me to spend time helping my students to get a better idea of the world, and to forego that leisurely lunch break.  In the long term it will be so much more worthwhile.

Today’s verse is one that has caused theologians great difficulties over the years; they have pondered and pontificated over who “he who has suffered” refers to; is it to Jesus?  To believers?  Consequently gallons of ink have been used writing lengthy papers on what this verse means.

I don’t want to dwell on the controversy here, though.  I want to pick up on the idea of living for the will of God, which ties in with our current Mark Marathon article.  Peter suggests that if we identify with Jesus’ suffering on the cross, we will consciously try to avoid sin.  If sin is anathema to God, then by consciously continuing to sin it is almost as if we are throwing Jesus’ sacrifice back in his face as an unwanted gift.  Instead, we should turn our back on sin and strive to live a blameless life.  If we do that, then our lives will focus not on earthly pleasures that soon end, but doing the will of God; in that way our lives will be infinitely better.

So turn to Christ, repent, try to live a blameless life, and focus on doing God’s will.  It might be difficult and you might sometimes ponder whether it is worth it, but it will be so much more worthwhile in the long term.

The Invention of Lying: Review

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The Invention of Lying: Review

This film, written and directed by, and starring Ricky Gervais, really should have been called The Invention of Not Blurting Out.

The story starts with an interesting premise; it is set in a world in which no-one lies, and everyone tells the truth.  Ricky Gervais’ character, Mark, is a screen writer, although he is not very good at his job, and is sacked.  Consequently, he has no money, and stands to be evicted from his flat.  That is until he visits the bank to withdraw all his money to pay for a van to move his belongings out of his flat.  The bank’s computers are down, so there is no way for the teller to know how much money Mark has.  Since no-one has ever lied, she simply asks him how much money he has in the account.  Mark actually has $300 – but somehow he says $800, the first time anyone has ever said a lie.

Mark is therefore able to pay his rent and stay in his flat.  He uses his new found talent for “saying something that isn’t” to benefit those who are in need of friendship.  He also helps a homeless man to get a lot of money from the bank.

During all of this, Mark has had his eyes on Anna, a beautiful woman, who he knows is out of his league.  At the beginning of the film, he goes on a date with her, but she makes it clear to him that she doesn’t fancy him, and will not be taking things any further.  Once he has mastered the art of lying, however, he tries his luck again – and manages to build a friendship with her, if nothing more.

The turning point for the film came when Mark’s mother was dying.  She is petrified about an eternity of nothing, so Mark invents a story about a man in the sky, and how she is going to go somewhere even better where she will live in a mansion and see all those who she has loved once more.  His mother dies happy.

Unfortunately, some of the hospital staff overhear Mark, and news soon gets out that he knows about what happens after death.  The next day, he is mobbed as everyone wants to hear what the future holds for them.  People are convinced that Mark is a prophet for the Man in the Sky.  He tells them that they are allowed to do three things wrong, and when they will die everyone will be given a mansion.

As the film develops, Anna develops a relationship with Brad, a rival screen writer, since she believes that he is a better genetic match, and she doesn’t want her children to grow up to be chubby and snub-nosed like Mark.

Anna subsequently is going to get married to Brad, but at the ceremony, when the minister asks if anyone objects, Mark speaks up.  Anna asks Mark to tell her what the Man in the Sky wants for them both.  Mark refuses to say anything, and leaves.  Anna, however, follows him.  Mark reveals that he invented the Man in the Sky to make his mother happy, and that things got out of control.  Anna asks why, if Mark could lie, he didn’t simply tell her that being rich could change one’s genetics; that way, he could have married her.  He says that he didn’t want to lie to her.

At that point, Anna decides that she wants to be with Mark, they get married, and live happily ever after.

The Invention of Lying starts off very well.  The premise that no-one has ever told a lie is an interesting one, and the comic potential of this is exploited to the full.  Since no-one can lie, there is no fiction, and so Mark’s screen writing career sees him writing scripts for actors to simply read out; anything else would be a lie.  A couple of very funny points emerge related to advertising; we see a Coke advert in which the presenter tells the viewer that Coke is esentially just brown sugar water, and is a little on the sweet side.  The advert, rather than trying to persuade people to buy more Coke, is actually imploring them not to stop buying it.  We also see an advert for Pepsi on the side of a bus, with the slogan “for when they don’t sell Coke.”

As a traditional love story – boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, trouble ensues, boy and girl split up, boy and girl get back together again, boy and girl get married and live happily ever after – The Invention of Lying was very, well, traditional, and fitted the formula exactly.

As an original and inventive film, though, the story simply didn’t work.  I failed to see why, simply because people couldn’t lie, everyone simply blurted out what they were thinking.  Is it lying to hold back one’s thoughts for risk of offending?  I don’t think so.

As soon as Mark invented the Man in the Sky, the story took an extremely bizarre turn, and seemed to develop into a rather lame attack on religion.  The main philosophical viewpoint seemed to be that God is an invention intended to offer comfort to humankind, and wouldn’t exist in a world where no-one could lie.  At least if you’re going to attack religion, come up with something a little bit more original and less blunt than that!

Overall, the film was a bit of a waste of a novel idea.  Gervais could have done so much more with the concept, but seemed to run out of steam.  After the first half hour, the movie went downhill rapidly, descending into a thinly veiled attack on Christianity, and a dull will-he-get-the-girl love story.

If this is the best that the comic genius behind The Office and Extras can come up with, then perhaps he’d be better off forgetting about feature films, and sticking with what he’s good at – the television sitcom.

The Company We Keep

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The Company We Keep

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

I’m very fortunate to have lots of friends.  One of the most important groups of friends I have are my old school friends, who, for reasons I haven’t got space to explain here, now go by the collective name of the Old Tratonians.  We had lots of adventures together whilst we were at school, and continue to do so to this day.  As a consequence of spending so much time together, we’ve gradually moulded and shaped each other, and have developed a kind of group consciousness.  Since most of us are Christians, this has been particularly helpful over the years, and has been a great encouragement to me in my faith.

It is often said that we are shaped by the people we spend time with.  Here in this verse from Romans, we are told that we should strive not to be like the worldly people around us; we are warned about allowing them so shape and mould our ideas.  Instead, we are commanded to “be transformed by the renewing” of our minds.  If we are influenced by those we spend time with, it therefore makes sense that we should try to spend more time with God – through studying his word and listening to him.  In that way, we will become more like him.

Most significantly of all, if we spend time with God, and allow him to shape how we think, we can understand what God’s will is – for his people, and for us specifically.  One of the major benefits of doing God’s will is made clear in our current Mark Marathon article, when Jesus comments that “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

What could be better than being able to count Jesus Christ as our brother?

The Family of Christ

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31Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 3:31-35

A couple of weeks ago, I drove up to Ipswich for a family gathering to celebrate the sixtieth wedding anniversary of my grandparents.  It was a really wonderful evening, and great to catch up not just with my grandparents, but also my parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  I reflected on how tremendously lucky I am to have been blessed with such a wonderful family.  All of them have shaped me into the person I am today, especially my parents, who have, and continue, to love, support and nurture me.  My brother and sister, too, who sadly could not make the party, have also played an important role in making me who I am.

Today’s passage is very much about family.  In it, there are a couple of particularly interesting points, which I shall try and pick out.  First of all, we can see something of the relationship between Jesus and his earthly family.  Secondly, we can gain some insight into the relationship Jesus says that all believers can enjoy with him.

At the beginning of this passage, Jesus’ mother and brothers are trying to find him.  We encountered his family in our last article – they were trying to find Jesus to seize him because they thought that he was out of his mind.  They had every reason to wonder what their beloved son and brother was up to; he had had a relatively normal childhood and early adulthood and now, as he hit his 30s, he was suddenly driving out demons, healing the sick, and preaching to anyone who would listen.  I suspect that his family would have been genuinely concerned for Jesus’ mental state, and wanted to draw him away from the crowds to talk to him and to support him.  No doubt Mary was remembering back to the unique conception and birth of her firstborn son, and wondering if this strange behaviour was in some way the fulfillment of her son’s destiny.  I wonder if his brothers would have understood up to this point that Jesus was in some way special?

When told that his mother and brothers have turned up and are looking for him, Jesus seems to reject them; some people no doubt interpret this passage as demonstrating that we should isolate ourselves from our families in order to focus on serving God.  This could not be further from the truth, however.  Jesus maintained a very positive relationship with his family.  We see in Acts 1:14 just how much his family loved him, and how they committed themselves to following him; we’re told that the apostles devoted themselves to prayer, “together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”  Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his brother James.  One of the last things that Jesus did as he was dying on the cross was to think of his mother as he asks the apostle John to look after her (John 19:26-27).  More than that, John tells us that Jesus loved his mother (John 19:26).  It quickly becomes clear, then, that Jesus was not rejecting his earthly family.  He recognized the importance of family, loved his own, and valued the support and love that they showed him.

Why, then, does Jesus seem to denigrate the relationship he has with his family?  Far from denigrating his family at the expense of believers, he actually seems to be elevating the position of the believers to that of a beloved family.  He sweeps his hand around the circle of people listening to him and tells them that they are his family.  He states that “whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Throughout the Bible, the importance of doing God’s will is made clear.  In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6) which we recite so often, we are asking that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  In John 7:17, Jesus tells us that by striving to do God’s will, we will know if Jesus is truly from God: “if anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether his teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on God’s authority.”  In 1 Peter 4, we are told that we should all be striving to live for the will of God.

Here, though, in our current passage, Jesus makes it absolutely clear to us the real benefit of living to do God’s will; by doing so, we are considered to be Jesus’ brother or sister or mother.  That close relationship that I have with my earthly family is the same kind of relationship I can have with Jesus – if I do his will.

So do I treat Jesus as a close member of my family?  How do I interact with my family?  Well, I call them up when I’m stressed or worried.  I certainly do that with Jesus, bringing my problems to him in prayer.  I also share my joy and happiness with my family; I suspect that I may be a little slow to do that with Jesus.  I would do anything to help a family member.  Would I do the same for Jesus? Do I do the same for Jesus?  That’s a slightly tougher proposition, and one I shall give some thought to in the coming days.

Of course, it works both ways.  As well as Jesus being loved and respected by his family, he also loved and respected them back, modeling for us what family should be like.  Do I always honour my family the same way as Jesus honoured his?  Do I always think of them before I think of myself?  Hmmm.  Again, food for thought.

It’s a real privilege to be able to regard Jesus as a brother.  I am certainly going to try to think of him more in this way in the coming weeks.

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

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Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”

Acts 7:51-53

When I lived in school accommodation in the middle of the Sussex countryside, it was almost impossible to pick up terrestrial television.  Being a bit of an EastEnders fan, this was very painful to me!  In order to keep up with goings on in the square, I succumbed and bought Sky TV.  I was amazed (and still am!) at the number of channels available, although in reality I still only watch two or three.  One of the programmes that I have got into, though is ‘24’.  Its plots are totally unbelievable, but it makes for gripping television.  Jack Bauer is always moments away from death, but always manages to overcome his enemies, save the world, and walk away from his adventures relatively unscathed.

The same could not be said for God’s agents on earth.  In his speech here in Acts, Stephen remarks to the Jewish leaders that every prophet that God sent to his people was persecuted – by God’s own people.  This was real life, not some far fetched story – God sent his agents to tell of the coming of Jesus, and they, too were killed.  Then, in the ultimate rejection of God, they even killed Jesus, the Righteous One.

Stephen’s explanation is that God’s people killed his messengers because they resisted the Holy Spirit; they were not open to God’s plan for humanity.  They knew God’s law, but failed to obey it.  They did not recognize the signs or listen to the words that God sent them.  Their resistance of the Holy Spirit led them to kill Jesus, and completely reject God.  There was no hope for them.

In Mark chapter 3, Jesus warns that “whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”  Christians often worry if they have committed this sin, but just by having this worry proves that they have not.  Those who do not listen to God, who reject the Holy Spirit’s work, and turn their backs on Jesus are those who are guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  For every other sin, there is forgiveness.

Be thankful today that Jesus saved us from our sin.  Be aware also, though, of those around you who reject the Holy Spirit.  Share your faith with them, and pray for them.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Review

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Review

Last Wednesday I took myself off to the cinema to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the latest 3D animation to hit the cinemas.  Although I am probably not in the target audience for the film, I will admit that in the past I have rather enjoyed these films for kids; often they make a conscious effort to also appeal to adults, since they are the ones who will end up sitting through the film with their children, and it is they who will decide whether to see the next children’s film that is released.  I recently enjoyed Monsters vs. Aliens and Bolt, whose name I have temporarily forgotten.  So it was with high hopes that I picked up my 3D glasses, my pick and mix and entered the cinema.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is set in an island community which has been at the centre of the sardine business.  Unfortunately, people stopped eating sardines when they realised they were disgusting (I quite like sardines!), and so not only did the economy of the once thriving town dry up, but the residents were forced to eat the fish that would previously have been exported.  That is until Flint Lockwood, a young inventor makes a machine that miraculously turns water into food.  Unfortunately, during the unveiling of a new sardine-themed adventure park, he accidentally shoots the machine up into the atmosphere, where it lodges and turns clouds into food, which then rain onto the ground below.

Meanwhile, Sam Sparks, a young TV weather girl has been sent to report on the opening of the new theme park.  Her broadcast goes horribly wrong – but she then recovers by bringing the world news of the new food rain.

Flint and Sam decide they quite like each other, and have more in common than first meets the eye.  Sam, who has tried hard to portray herself as a blonde bimbo is actually a geek who wears glasses and her hair in a pony tail.  A quasi-relationship develops between the two of them, and they eventually manage to save the world when they stop the food malfunctioning with the help of a French cameraman/fighter pilot.

As if this wasn’t enough to keep cinema goers on the edge of their seats (or something), an additional storyline develops Flint and Tim, his father, who is the proprietor of a sardine-fishing tackle shop.  Tim wants Flint to give up his inventing and to help him run his shop.  Flint’s mother had died several years ago (of course) and a chasm opened between father and son.  Tim is clearly fed up with Flint’s inventive and dreamy approach to life.

Eventually, of course, father and son are reunited when it becomes clear that Flint’s inventions can make a difference to people.  Tim, a bit of a technophobe, also masters the art of email.

There were just so many things wrong with this film I don’t know where to start.  First of all, it was as dull as dishwater.  Whilst eight-year-olds might have found it entertaining, there was nothing to sustain the adult audience at all.  The script lacked any clever ideas or wit, and almost sent me to sleep.  The characters were weak and cliched.  Why on earth the writer thought it was appropriate to condemn all glass-wearing, pony-tailed girls as dull, geeky plain-janes, I have no idea.  Similarly, the father-son relationship storyline grated terribly; father’s are supposed to love their sons, but this father seemed to feel nothing other than exasperation and frustration with his son.  He didn’t want to invest in his ideas and wanted to crush his world.  Their attempt at reconciliation was dire, and seemed to come very much on the father’s terms – when surely it was he who had been in the wrong.

I’m sure that the writer was trying to tell a positive story about relationships, but that was not how it came across to me.  What I saw was a crazy inventor kid, despised by his peers, who becomes despised by the town after a short period of success.  Moral – don’t be different or creative, but just blend in because it’s much easier.  I also saw Sam Sparks, an intelligent girl, who had reinvented herself as a blonde bimbo to gain respect; this worked, and she became popular.  When Flint persuaded her that she looked beautiful with her glasses and pony tail, she got snide comments from everyone else.  Then I saw a father and son struggling after the death of a wife and mother.  They didn’t see eye to eye, and had entirely different outlooks on the world.  Rather than the father being respectful of his son’s wishes, and quietly tolerating him, he wanted to crush his ideas and make him conform to the normal, dreary everyday world of the island.

Surely there’s something wrong with that?

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was a truly dire film.  Unoriginal, cliched, dull, boring and with no redeeming features.  Go and watch this at your peril.

Jesus attracts attention

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And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Mark 3:22

One of my former pupils is a very talented musician.  Along with a couple of friends, he started a band, who between them produced some very distinctive music.  My pupil bought a CD with some of his songs into school for me one day, in the hope that I would play them on my radio show.  I took the CD home and listened carefully to the four tracks he had recorded, and I thought they were outstanding.

The band played a number of club nights in London.  One day, a record company executive who had heard great things about this youthful band, attended one of their gigs, wanting to see for himself what all the hype was about.  The next thing I knew, they had been signed, and had released their first album to critical acclaim.  They’re even favourites of Radio 1!

You know you’re starting to get a bit of a reputation when the big wigs come down to see you.  Jesus had clearly been getting quite a reputation.  He had been preaching and teaching in and around Galilee, yet he had come to the reputation of the religious leaders in Jerusalem.  They travelled all the way to Capernaum to see Jesus for themselves – a journey of a not inconsiderable 120 miles.  When they finally get to see Jesus, they are amazed at what they see; they had expected him to be a fraud, and yet even they are surprised by what he is doing.  They quickly jump to conclusions, however; rather than watching carefully what Jesus is doing, and listening carefully to all that he says, they simply accuse him of being an agent for the Devil.  Their acceptance that he was doing things that could be explained away are interesting for us as Christians, however, since it is actually evidence to support the Gospel’s claims about Jesus.

Clearly there was something special about Jesus.  Clearly he was doing amazing things.  In which case, it is extremely important that we watch and listen to him carefully and decide for ourselves exactly what his true identity.  Was he in fact the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, as he claimed to be?  In which case, did he really die for me?  These are incredibly important questions that everyone needs to consider – Christians and non-Christians alike.  As Christians, we must ensure that our faith is built on realistic evidence.  For non-Christians, it is equally important that if you are to continue in your non-faith, that you have looked carefully at the evidence and ruled Jesus as the Christ out based on the evidence available.  For all of us, Jesus’ true identity is a matter of life and death.

Getting on Together

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Getting on Together

These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mark 3:16-19

The university that I attended is renowned for the diversity of its students.  We had a great number of students from overseas; I was fortunate enough to befriend people from Spain, Finland, Poland, the USA, Canada, China, and even Yorkshire.  And that was just in the Christian Union!  At CU we had people whose parents were multi-millionaire businessmen, police officers, lawyers, shop workers, postmen and more besides.  We were a very diverse lot indeed.  Had we met anywhere else, we would probably not have been friends.  We were, however, and that was due in no small part to a mutual love for Christ, and an awareness that he loved all of us too.

What strikes me when reading through this list of Jesus’ twelve apostles is the diversity of the people he picked to serve him.  Particularly noticeable is the fact that a Zealot numbered amongst Jesus’ closest followers, and also Matthew, a tax collector.  We’ve met Matthew before in Mark’s gospel, and have seen how he was regarded as a traitor to his people, since he collected taxes for the Romans, the occupying forces.  Yet Simon the Zealot was also amongst the apostles; Zealots were vocal, and often violent revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the Romans.  One would not expect Simon and Matthew to get on particularly well, and yet they lived and worked together serving Jesus.  They were able to put aside their differences because they shared a love of Christ, and an awareness that he loved them too.

Jesus’ apostles were a diverse band of people, yet he called them all and he loved them all.  There is not a “Christian-type.”  Jesus calls us all to share in his love for us, no matter who we are, where we are from, or what we do.  He also shows us that it is possible to put our differences aside and love each other.

Let’s try and be a little more loving in the days ahead.