What's Your Idea of Love?

------YOLANDA WEBB------

"AND SO IT GOES"

The "Be Attitudes of Inclusion” ©

I had a dream last night of the last time I heard my father's voice. Now you may be thinking that when we lose a parent that might be the pivotal moment in our lives when we hear a parent's voice for the final time.

My dad actually lost his voice many years before his death. I can remember driving from my home in Cincinnati to be there for his surgery. As they wheeled him into the operating room, I made it just in time and stood beside the bed as he handed me his watch and said, "Loni this is the last time you will probably ever hear my voice. Remember it and remember that life is always about love. Love eternal."

Tears streamed down my face of course. But my dad thrived after that, writing us notes to communicate with us. Writing us notes to remind us of the wisdom we all have for any situation in life.

In my dream the other night, I heard his voice again reminding me of love eternal. When I woke, I thought about what that meant. And I picked up by bible to read the words of Christ in his immortal Sermon on the Mount again. The Beatitudes.

And I begin to write in my journal what my own version of those immortal words meant today. The "Be Attitudes" of Inclusion. ©

I thought about how proud my dad would be of his grandchildren and of the lives they have built for themselves. I thought about how inclusive and accepting he would be of their lives, and how they have shared their gifts of love eternal with their own partners and children.

My family is non-traditional with traditional values of God, faith and family. Over the past years we have seen the acceptance of these non-traditional families accepted in the marketplace through advertising. Whether it's been in bi-racial relationships or same-sex relationships, we have seen a greater acceptance, awareness and availability of understanding of these non-traditional families.

And what I love and have passed on to my children are the values that nurture, foster, and promote the "Be" Attitudes of Inclusion. Be Aware, Be Available, Be Accepting.

That's Love Eternal. And teaching my children and now my grandchildren about acceptance, being available and being aware of the world, the people and cultures around them, well, will make them better human beings.

And isn't that what we want for ourselves and each other? The better version of our humanity regardless of who we love?

That's love eternal.

Love eternal holds up a mirror to ourselves and ask, "what kind of human being am I, and do I want to be?" The true power of inclusion is seeing the unique differences and similarities that we all share.

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." If you want love in your life...you must first learn how to love. If you want justice...you must learn to be just.

Life is like a boomerang...what we throw out comes back to us. Blessed are the loving for they shall obtain love.