I'm Still Here ... Thanks be to God

Hello, out there, good people of Earth!

Here it is, the eleventh day of the second (and shortest, natch!) month of the year of our good Lord 2025.

I chose this particular date on which to resume one of my greatest loves: writing little blurbs of hope and joy--and allegedly offering a chuckle here or there. Heavy emphasis on allegedly, by the by.

I digress.

Now, truth be told, this could very likely be only a pipe dream of mine. You know, the notion that anyone actually gives a single iota what old PK thinks or feels. In all actuality, my two cents COULD be worth roughly just that -- with some change to spare.

And, at the risk of my exact sentiments holding any particular significance at all, I'd like to venture a novel one on this bitterly cold northeast Ohio day. 

My thought for the day is this: Love.

Sure, we're on the cusp of Valentine's Day so chocolates of virtually every imaginable iteration, flowers of myriads of origins (though red roses tend rule the roost 99% of the time on VD), and chalky looking (and frankly tasting!) dialogue candies are all traditional forms of showing affection right around this time of year. These staples are as plentiful the copious amount brown M&Ms in a 10-pound bag, you dig?

But I'm referring to another form of the profession of love. As in the one listed in the good book. Or as I like to call it, the greatest one ever written, the Bible.

According to Matthew 22:36-40, the Bible emphasizes two primary commandments. In this poignant verse, Jesus summarizes the law with these words: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Bam. There it is.

Put the Big Guy first and make sure our fellow inhabitants of the third rock from the sun follow suit. I feel the need to confess that my list reads as follows: God, my adored son Kyle and then the whole remaining lot of the post caveman-dwelling inhabitants of this big, blue ball we call home. 

Hee!

This means respecting everyone. Not agreeing with them or blindly subscribing to their preferences and/or notions. God gave us free will, after all.

What I'm referring to is simply offering support, kindness, compassion, empathy -- you know, the good stuff.

Smile at strangers with reckless abandon. Hold doors open for them. Carry groceries to the car for those in need of assistance. Let the lady behind you with two items take your spot in the grocery line when you've got a cart and a half full of rations in yours.

And always, ALWAYS thank a veteran for his or her service at every available opportunity. Period.

It saddens me to have to offer gentle reminders of tiny yet relevant displays of loving our fellow man -- and woman and child. Okay, who am I kidding, I'm all about canines, too. More digressing.

But the point is this. It takes very little effort to be kind. And even less to bow our heads to pause and thank our Creator for the generous bounty He bestows on us constantly. Let's not lose sight of that because, no matter how hard it may be to see them in certain stressful or challenging moments, God's blessings always abound, as does His grace.

Waking up every day is a gift we should never take for granted. So, like the good book says, "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!"

Happy Tuesday, y'all and God bless!