A friend just told us that perhaps we should relate to the church as a dysfunctional parent. We honor, submit to, and love her. But we do not allow her to destroy those we love with her dysfunction. We recognize that our beauty and our brokenness are inseparable from hers. The Creator and the church are our parents, and having one without the other leaves us very empty. Though our mother has many illegitimate children, we still love her.

So for those of us who have nearly given up on the church, may we take comfort in the words of St. Augustine: "The Church is a whore, but she's my mother." She

Love never gives in or up, holding tight to lofty ideals that transcend this earth and time, while its counterfeit simply concludes it was mistaken and quickly runs off to find the next real thing.

The angel of mercy, the child of love, together had flown to the realms above.

Let us love one another as God loves each one of us. And where does this love begin? In our own home. How does it begin? By praying together.

He knew, for the moment, that he felt affection for Roark; an affection that held pain, astonishment and helplessness.

Michelle backstage, beautiful in white, squeezing my hand, gazing lovingly into my eyes, and telling me "Just don't screw it up, buddy!

Good people don't give up on the ones they love.

One other person can go a long way towards making your world right, she said, but the support has to run both ways. Saying love has to come from a strong place, not just grabbing whatever's in reach. You can't choose your family, but partner is your best shot at a decent do-over.

As we become independent—proactive, centered in correct principles, value driven and able to organize and execute around the priorities in our life with integrity—we then can choose to become interdependent—capable of building rich, enduring, highly productive relationships with other people. As

In other words, when we truly love others without condition, without strings, we help them feel secure and safe and validated and affirmed in their essential worth, identity, and integrity. Their natural growth process is encouraged. We make it easier for them to live the laws of life—cooperation, contribution, self-discipline, integrity—and to discover and live true to the highest and best within them.

Creating the unity necessary to run an effective business or a family or a marriage requires great personal strength and courage. No amount of technical administrative skill in laboring for the masses can make up for lack of nobility of personal character in developing relationships. It is at a very essential, one-on-one level that we live the primary laws of love and life.