Welcome guest writer, Mark Ford. Mark lives in Austin and is a cellist, vocalist, composer and chef. Most recently he has performed as half of Dead Tree Duo. You can connect with him on Facebook.

It may seem a platitude, it might sound like the tired words of some aging hippie, but our world is divided. Humans have been very, very busy dividing themselves up, cording themselves off from one another, and responding with everything from strained tolerance to unchecked hatred and rage. Screw tolerance, but screw hatred and rage even more.

I don’t have to “tolerate” you. I can go further than that and fully accept and love you even though you are different from I. The love of a dog for its master should humble and floor the entire human race in its current state, as they are utterly different from us in every conceivable way, yet they are capable of pure devotion and unconditional love.

Yeah, yeah…”love is the answer”…blah, blah, blah. But actually, it is. To find someone who genuinely loves others regardless of whatever may seem to separate them is almost unheard of these days.

I am not that person, but it is an ideal worth striving for.