People talk a lot about loving God. Sometimes these same people fall short in the way they treat other people. John insists that we cannot have one without the other. We have never seen God. We understand very little about God. Yet we have each other - and we are all created in the image and likeness of God and God dwells in us. Other people become the 'representatives' of God - we love and serve them and in so doing love and serve our God. We have so many opportunities each day!

Jesus knew that those he left behind would have a rough time. His prayer to the Father was that they be protected in his name - another way of saying his love and grace. Those who really do walk in the ways of Jesus do not belong to the world. They live and work here but the light that guides their path is very different from the ways of the world. And the world will not love them for it! Jesus prayed that his followers may be one just as he and the Father are one. In other words, Jesus wants us to experience God and to experience others as he does - in unity, love, and harmony. This all sounds like a bit too much to ask, but we learn each day step by step. Let us listen to the gentle voice of the spirit within us rather than the noise around us.