With apologies to John Lennon, given the events of the last 24 hours, I couldn’t help but restate the obvious.  All we need is love.  Is loving one another regardless or race, color, national origin, sexual orientation or creed really that difficult? 

I’ll never understand hatred.  It is one of the most despicable of all human traits.  And yet since Cain killed Abel, homo sapiens have killed their own kind.  Why?  If there is a heaven, it will be one of the first questions I ask the Almighty.  What is the point of killing another human being?

Whether you were for George Zimmerman or for Trayvon Martin is not relevant to me.  Black or white is not the issue.  The issue is someone’s son has been killed and he will never live the life he could have.  Shouldn’t this be the core at what we as a society should prevent from happening ever again no matter what the circumstances?

Who knows what Trayvon may have done with his life.  He could’ve been the person to cure cancer, end poverty, save the planet.  Now, we’ll never know.  It is tragedy beyond words.  Why did this have to happen?  Why?

Hatred of others was not born in America.  I’ve read from a PBS article on race where the identification of the Jews with the devil and witchcraft in the popular mind of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was perhaps the first sign of a racist view of the world. Official sanction for such attitudes came in sixteenth century Spain when Jews who had converted to Christianity and their descendents became the victims of a pattern of discrimination and exclusion.  Was this really the origin or simply the first recorded act of hatred.  Rodney King did say it best, why can’t we all just get along?

Why do some people think they are superior to others?  I can’t help but feel angry, ashamed, frustrated, defensive, ignorant, confused over the actions of others especially white people against people of color.  Is it so wrong to truly love your fellow man, woman or child?  When did being nice to others become such a bad thing?

Christianity is often built off of this foundation of love, yet the more Christians I meet, the more I realize this foundation is built on a house of cards.  Often, these so called Christians are the most hateful, judgemental people of all.  Some heartless Christians create such heinous acts like protesting at veterans funerals or killing other human beings all in the name of God.  Really?  Do you really think God would condone such behavior?

Love is universal.  Love is pure.  Love is an emotion that only dogs seem to get.  I’ve raised dogs.  I’ve trained dogs.  I’ve volunteered at pet shelters.  I know love at its most pure level and it is the love a canine has for a human being.  Black, White, Gay, Straight, Christian, Atheist, it doesn’t matter.  A dog’s love is a love we should all emulate.

I’m not here to spout pollyanic drival.  I’ve not been nice to people.  I’ve been mean.  Every act, every word, has after careful reflection, filled me with incredible regret.  But, I would never, ever, take the life of someone unless they threatened my life or the life of my loved ones.  Did Zimmerman truly feel threatened?  Not one of us will ever really know but there is one superior being who will judge him when his spirit has left this earth.  He had better hope that God has as much of a forgiving heart as the jury did in this case.

And in the end the love we take is equal to the love we make.