On Love
An excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran
Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people,
and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest
branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them
in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant:
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
that you may become sacred bread for God`s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you
that you may know the secrets of your heart,
and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life`s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only
love`s peace and love`s pleasure,
Then it is better for you
that you cover your nakedness and
pass out of love`s threshing floor,
Into the seasonless world where you
shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,
and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself,
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say,
"God is in my heart," but rather,
"I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course
of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving:
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love`s ecstasy:
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in you heart
and a song of praise upon you lips.
Kahlil Gibran's book, published in 1923 is especially relevent and helpful
for these times and is a wonderful gift for yourself or a loved one.
"The Prophet"
The Lord is not happy when evil people offer him sacrifices, especially when those evil people are trying to get something from him. 
10 1Brothers [and sisters], the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. 2I can say this about the Jews: They really try to follow God. But they don't know the right way. 3They did not know the way that God makes people right with him. And they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God's way of making people right. 4Christ ended the law so that every person that believes in him is made right with God. 
Quick Thought:
John 8:37-47
A proud person thinks he is better than other people. He shows that he is evil by the things he does. 
God and the Jewish People
Quick Thought:
John 8:28-36
If a person is careful about the things he says, then he saves himself from trouble. Proverbs 21:23 (ERV)