Boner and Hope

It's not what you might have thought. When I heard about the death, and surrounding circumstances, of Richard Stabone, who played "Boner" on Growing Pains, I was saddened. Yes, I liked his character as Mike's(Kirk Cameron) goofy friend, but that's not why I am saddened. Read about it, if you don't know, before you continue with this.
How much of a difference does positive human contact make in a person's life? I'm not saying Richard didn't have positive human contact. It's just that when someone feels so (whatever the right word might be) that they don't see any options for vitality in life and, thus have no hope, something is not as it should be. Greg's personal philosophy, that keeps coming round and round to me, is that Jesus had it right - we can change the world for the best by loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
Can any of us honestly say we don't like positive influences in our lives? No, we can't. Do they make a difference? Yes, they do.
Our culture, unfortunately, seems to thrive on insults, put downs, and making someone feel bad about themselves. We rarely recognize the fact that whether it's in fun or not, it always has a negative impact.
Everyone needs hope! Hope is nothing less than someone feeling as though they are loved and will be loved unconditionally no matter what. That's really all God wants any of us to know!
Yes, I know I don't get it right all the time. No, I don't like that. What can we do to help someone feel loved? Do we understand that accomplishing that is truly a priceless gift we can give one another?
Dear God, I pray that we find the strength and courage to follow You by doing the best we can to make people feel loved and experience hope. As You know, nobody should die because they feel hopeless. We should, as You said, have life and have it abundantly because we have found hope in Your love. Make it so! But it's not simply about "me" or "us", Lord. We pray for anyone and everyone who feels unloved and are losing, or have lost, hope. Fill them with love and hope and give us whatever we need to be Your helpers in that respect. Amen.