This leaves us with the third and final part of this piece is NOT the least by any means.  We have before us the 10 commandments to live by as a guideline.  JC takes all ten of these commandments and narrows them down to the dual emphasis of them in Mark 12: 28-31;

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

   ²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a]30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[b] 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

Now, I have been turned on to a group called “Damion Suomi & the Minor Prophets”.  For anyone looking for Christian music that does not sound like the norm (think Carbon Leaf), this is an awesome group to listen to. Anyway, they have a song called “Holy Ghost” in which they put this idea into a beautiful, lyrical phrase: “Love your God with your heart, love your neighbor as your own and the rest is just a guess as good as mine”.  We, as Christians, are called to primarily love God with all that we have, and then love our neighbors as God loves us.  Respect, understanding, compassion, all these and more are part of this love.   This love for God and for that of our neighbor (which to clarify is EVERYONE), should consume us and show through us.

So, here I have imparted a little of my theological belief.  I assure you there is much more to my foundation than what I have expressed here, and I would love to converse (not debate) with anyone on any of these topics, as well as any others.  So, with the same grace and understanding that I try to utilize with anyone else, please extend that to me as we continue down this path.