“This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you.”

In one of the classic “Peanuts” cartoon panels, Linus Van Pelt complains that, “I love humanity, it’s people I can’t stand.” It’s easy to profess our love for humanity, but not so easy to act on our beliefs on a one-to-one basis. Yet, a moment’s reflection calls to mind examples of two Good Samaritans who have graced my life in just the past day.

In what has to be a strange coincidence, my car died in the garage at the very same time that my wife’s car died in a car wash. Unaware of her predicament, I called our All State agent to see if I had towing coverage for my car under our insurance policy. The agent explained that towing was not included under our particular plan, but he immediately dropped everything and drove out to our house to jump start my car. Meanwhile, a total stranger had seen my wife’s predicament; pushed her car out of the car wash; and jump started her battery.

Like those two dead batteries, sometimes our love for one another needs a jump start. All it might take is for one of us to go out of our way to strengthen the connection.

Mother Teresa put it this way: “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”