If only you would heed the voice of the Lord . . . .” It sounds so simple and  it is—in theory. What keeps me from listening intently and carrying out the Word of God?

It’s both a challenging and a comforting, even an intimate message: The word is near; the commandments of God are already in your mouths and written on your hearts. All you have to do is carry them out.

MERCY IS IN danger of becoming an antique word. We live in a tough world where cynicism is the protective wrapping around many hearts. Hostility toward the enemy and suspicion of the stranger are the norm.

WHO WAS the Good Samaritan?  We don't know for sure, but it is clear that he was a layperson, not a religious professional.

Late for an important meeting, I was running for a bus when I tripped and skidded headlong on the sidewalk. I hopped back on my feet and caught up with the bus, huffing and puffing and embarrassed.

A young professional woman was driving home late one night when she spotted a group of teenage boys all huddled together in a vacant lot just off a fairly deserted street. She had her window rolled up, but she could hear vague cries.

Ways to love God:Listen intently, laugh wholeheartedly, don't settle for less when it comes to justice

With faith in God's kindness, we turn to the Lord.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. In answer to Jesus, the scholar of the law quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, part of the Shema recited by Jews at the beginning and end of the day, and links it to Leviticus 19:18: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

A religious man is a person who holds God  and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair. —Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)