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Good evening, little lambs. Tonight's story is called The Jug on the Thank You Stone, inspired by the Gospel of Matthew twenty two thirty four forty. Tonight, Jesus teaches us something simple and strong. Love God with all of you, your glad heart, your whole self, and your thinking mind, and love the person next to you the way you would want to be loved. Those two loves are the biggest of all. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter twenty two, verses thirty four through forty, that is what Jesus says. And so tonight we're back on Shepherd's Hill, where the trough is empty and one cold jug has a long walk home. The afternoon had been hot enough to make the grass whisper. Dust sat on every woolly back. The wooden trough by the fold stood empty, dry as an old stick. Little Bramble licked her lips and tasted only dust. Jesus looked at each of them as if that lamb were the only lamb in the meadow. The well is still cold, he said. Clover, take the good jug. Bring the water home. The good jug was wood, smooth from many hooves, with a tight lid. Clover hooked it over her foreleg. Her blue scarf was neat. The tiny green sprig behind her left ear stood thoughtful and bright. She walked, the jug bumped, cool against her wool. At the well she filled it to the brim. Water slapped the lid. It smelled like stones and shade. On the path home stood the thank you stone, a flat grey rock where the lambs always stopped when the first jug came up to tell God thank you for the well. Clover loved that stone. She set the jug down in its own slice of shade and shut her eyes. Thank you, she said very carefully. She wanted the words to be the best words. She thought and thought. She said thank you for the well and the hill and the sky. She said it again in case the first time was too small. Down at the fold, Bramble stood by the empty trough. She tapped the dry wood with one small hoof. Tap, tap. Biscuits golden tuft, bounced up the path. Clover, Bramble has been waiting. Her tongue feels like a dry leaf. Pour the jug. Clover's eyes opened, her sprig tipped. But this is the biggest thing, she whispered. Loving God. If I run, I won't have done it with all of me. Biscuit stamped a dusty hoof. She's thirsty now. That was when Jesus came along the path, warm as always. He sat in the grass between the stone and the jug. He did not frown. Clover, he said, you are right that God is first. Love God with all of you, your glad heart, your whole self, and your thinking mind. That is the first and biggest commandment. He touched his own chest. All your heart means you are glad, not grumbling. All your soul means you really stop. You don't rush past God. All your mind means you remember. This cold water is his gift. Clover nodded. And a second commandment is like it, Jesus said. Love the lamb next to you the way you want to be loved. He looked down the path where Brambles still waited by the dry trough. If you were the small dusty one, what would you want? Clover did not have to think long. A drink, a real one. Not later. Now. Yes, Jesus said. Love God with all of you. Love the lamb next to you the way you want to be loved. Those two go together. The whole of God's good rules hang on them. Clover put both hooves on the jug. She said, plain and glad, thank you, God for this cold water. She meant it. Then she ran. At the trough she poured for Bramble first. The water made a bright sound on the wood. Bramble drank with her eyes shut. Clover poured for biscuit, and for quiet, dark fleeced Matt, who had been standing a little to the side, and last for herself. Old woolly silver grey fleece shone in the shade. His voice felt like sitting next to a fire. Two loves, he said, one jug. Clover's sprig stood bright, the trough was wet. The thank you had not stayed only as words on a stone. It had become a cold drink for Bramble. And so tonight we learned that loving God is first, and it takes all of us, our gladness, our stopping, our remembering. And the same love must walk over to the person beside us. We do not have to choose. What is one way you could thank God tonight and one kind thing you could do for someone near you? Let's close our eyes now, safe on the green hill held by the shepherd who gives cold water and teaches us how to love. Jesus, I love you with all of me. Help me love the person next to me the way I want to be loved. Amen. Good night, little lamb. God loves you so much. Sweet dreams.