Love is the lamp that lights the universe: without that light . . . the earth is a barren promontory and man the quintessence of dust.
--Mary Elizabeth Braddon

All of us are lighted by love. Childcare, car repair, concluding a report - are easier tasks when we know we're loved. We don't feel quite as alone and conspicuous in a crowd of strangers when we recall that someone special loves us. No new adventure, first plane trip, or first day of a class or new job feels quite as threatening when we've got the company of a loved one in our hearts and minds.

You might be thinking, "But I don't have a special loved one now." How narrowly we define being loved. We have friends who love us, who think of us even when we're not present - just as we think of them. And no one of us is ever away from the protective realm of a Higher Power who loves us always and everywhere we go.

Wherever we look there is someone who, like us, will find the day easier if he remembers he's loved.