Two keys to abundant life

By Tom Quiner

We need two things for abundant life: to love … and to be loved.

It’s in our DNA. After all, we were made by God, who is Love. As scripture puts it in 1 John 4:8:

“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

I was listening to Catholic radio yesterday. A man was talking about the danger of the growing euthanasia movement. He said that the lonely, the isolated, the unloved, and the unlovable are at grave risk from this movement. These people feel unwanted and disconnected. They mistakenly may feel that their lives lack meaning, and they are susceptible to the pressures placed on them by the euthanasia cult.

The man on the radio told about a 62 year old man in Europe. He retired.

Upon retirement, his life lacked meaning. He had no family, no friends. He asked to be euthanized.

How utterly tragic.

The man on the radio was asked to give practical suggestions for the lonely, the isolated, the unloved, and the unlovable. He told them to get a dog.

What a perfect start. Dogs are creatures who know how to offer up unconditional love. Let’s face it, they’re better at it than most people. And they help their masters to cultivate their love gene.

A simplistic solution? Yes … but look at the photo above making the rounds on Facebook. It’s a picture of a man whose dog died from smoke inhalation in a fire.

You don’t react like that if your car is totaled. You react like that only through the loss of love.

Our lives are rich gifts from God. They have such meaning. We feel most fully alive when we give and receive love.