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that the reasons do not matter. If wewould keep the commandment tolove one another, we must treat eachother with kindness and respect.Of course there will be timeswhen discipline needs to be metedout. Let us remember, however, thecounsel found in the Doctrine andCovenants—namely, that when it isnecessary for us to reprove another,we afterward show forth an increaseof love. 10I would hope that we would strivealways to be considerate and to besensitive to the thoughts and feelingsand circumstances of those around us.Let us not demean or belittle. Rather,let us be compassionate and encouraging.We must be careful that we do notVienna, Austriadestroy another person’s confidencethrough careless words or actions.Forgiveness should go hand inhand with love. In our families, as wellas with our friends, there can be hurtfeelings and disagreements. Again, itdoesn’t really matter how small theissue was. It cannot and should not beleft to canker, to fester, and ultimatelyto destroy. Blame keeps wounds open.Only forgiveness heals.A lovely lady who has since passedaway visited with me one day andunexpectedly recounted some regrets.She spoke of an incident which hadtaken place many years earlier andinvolved a neighboring farmer, oncea good friend but with whom she andher husband had disagreed on multipleoccasions. One day the farmer askedif he could take a shortcut across herproperty to reach his own acreage. Atthis point she paused in her narrativeto me and, with a tremor in her voice,said, “Brother Monson, I didn’t let himcross our property then or ever butrequired him to take the long wayaround on foot to reach his property.I was wrong, and I regret it. He’s gonenow, but oh, I wish I could say to him,‘I’m so sorry.’ How I wish I had a secondchance to be kind.”As I listened to her, there came tomy mind the doleful observation ofJohn Greenleaf Whittier: “Of all sadwords of tongue or pen, the saddestare these: ‘It might have been! ’” 11Brothers and sisters, as we treat otherswith love and kind consideration, wewill avoid such regrets.Love is expressed in many recognizableways: a smile, a wave, akind comment, a compliment. Otherexpressions may be more subtle, suchas showing interest in another’s activities,teaching a principle with kindnessand patience, visiting one who isill or homebound. These words andactions and many others can communicatelove.Dale Carnegie, a well-knownAmerican author and lecturer,believed that each person has withinhimself or herself the “power toincrease the sum total of [the] world’shappiness . . . by giving a few wordsof sincere appreciation to someoneMay 201493