{"id":1499,"date":"2012-07-10T19:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-07-10T23:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=1499"},"modified":"2012-07-10T11:21:25","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T15:21:25","slug":"we-all-need-some-lovin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/07\/we-all-need-some-lovin.html","title":{"rendered":"We All Need Some Lovin’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other night a friend of mine came home from work after dark.\u00a0 When he got to his back yard he saw his white cat and began to pet her.\u00a0 The more he petted her the more she rubbed against his legs and followed him towards to house.\u00a0 He didn’t remember her being quite so lovey dovey, but kept touching her and talking to her.\u00a0 She continued to swerve in and out between his legs and pressing against him as a show of affection.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine his surprise when the security light came on and he discovered that\u00a0he had been cuddling with a young skunk.\u00a0 His cat was not the object of his affection.\u00a0 The skunk didn’t seem to be afraid or aggressive.\u00a0 It just wanted some TLC.\u00a0 Needless to say, my friend did not continue his petting adventure.<\/p>\n

This story caused me to think of all the undesirable, uncouth, and untouchable people we all know.\u00a0 It doesn’t matter how disgusting they seem to us, they all need to experience love; not only human love, but also the love of Jesus.\u00a0 I have known people who will actually cross the street to avoid contact with some individual that was unseemly and unkempt.\u00a0 Would Jesus do that?\u00a0 I think not!<\/p>\n

We all have had times when we were not the nicest or most agreeable people.\u00a0 We all have experienced things that make us unpleasant or irritable, lonely or desperate.\u00a0 It is during these times that we need the love of others and of God the most.\u00a0 A tender touch or a kind word can make all the difference when one is down and out.\u00a0 A little compassion can drive away despair.\u00a0 A soft spoken word can reassure a broken heart, that there is hope.<\/p>\n

Perhaps that skunk couldn’t put his needs into words, but his non-verbal communications were clear.\u00a0 He needed some loving and he didn’t care if it came from a person or another skunk.\u00a0 How often to we clearly see that someone needs a hug or a kind word, and we simply look the other way; we hurry along with our own personal business.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Let’s remember the little skunk and the lesson he brought to us.\u00a0 It really doesn’t take much effort to be kind and gentle.\u00a0 It doesn’t take much of our valuable time to encourage another.\u00a0 It doesn’t cost even a dime to pass along a hug or a smile.\u00a0 It can make all the difference in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other night a friend of mine came home from work after dark.\u00a0 When he got to his back yard he saw his white cat and began to pet her.\u00a0 The more he petted her the more she rubbed against his legs and followed him towards to house.\u00a0 He didn’t remember her being quite so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[42,21,37],"class_list":["post-1499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-inspiration","tag-choices","tag-nature","tag-touching-others-s"],"yoast_head":"\nWe All Need Some Lovin' - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2012\/07\/we-all-need-some-lovin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We All Need Some Lovin' - 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