YIKES! I will be honest; I find that very difficult. Because I will admit I have LOTS of favorites. My favorites range from fruits to junk foods, TV shows to musicals, music genres to sports and beyond.

• My favorite movie:  The Wizard of Oz
• My favorite number: 24
• My favorite day of the week: Sunday
• My favorite baseball player: Jason Varitek
• My favorite book: There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar.

Now readers, I am thinking many of you also have favorites. And, like me, those favorites can fall into a multitude of categories. But having favorites most certainly does not exclude the “un-favorites”.  Just because mint chocolate chip is my favorite flavor of ice cream does not mean I turn my back on a big dish of black raspberry. Just because I love summer does not mean I cannot be found outside in the fall picking apples and sipping warm cider. Just because purple and turquoise are my favorite colors does not mean I have a limited color scheme in my closet. And just because I love a good prime rib dinner does not mean I walk away from an invitation to an Italian restaurant.

My point is that I understand the implication that having a favorite could be a bad thing. But what I feel is this: It is okay to have a favorite IF you do not “dis” the others. Being able to love one entity should not mean you hate another. Having one item be a favorite does not mean the others are excluded. Preferring something over something else does not mean something is cast away. We need to value it all. We need to appreciate it all. And most importantly we need to love all.

The royal law in Scriptures states, “Love your neighbors as yourself.”  That’s what we need to do. If we all do that, aren’t we doing what we are expected from God? In doing so we together are working to make the world the way God intended it to be! It’s that simple!