Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as your love yourself. These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them”.
(Matthew 22: 37 – 40)

Mr. Williams was rehearsing his lines in his mind. His daughter had missed curfew once again, and she’d already been warned. How often had he told her about curfew – rule number one? Now, he was going to lower the boom. Ground her for weeks. Take away her driving privileges. Let her know there are consequences to her actions.

And the minutes dragged on. And his worry increased. And his anger increased along with his worry. The phone rang. “Mr. Williams, your daughter his here at the police station. She’s OK. There was an accident. It wasn’t her fault. We’ll be bringing her home shortly, but she didn’t want to worry you so she asked me to call”.

When his daughter arrived home, he saw the look on her face. He could see all that she’d gone through, the apology already on her lips. It softened his heart. He opened his arms and she came swiftly into his embrace. As if singing a duet, they said simultaneously, “I was so worried for you”. The Williams home discovered its new “rule number one”: Love God and one another.