Is there true joy in loving and trusting relationships?

Are trusting and loving relationships with God, with oneself, with family members, and with others the source of all true joy and inner peace during our time on earth and forever? – – – In short, yes. That’s why our purpose in everything we do with Christ-centered sports and games clubs and activities is to help each of us build and maintain more loving and trusting relationships.

I love the following excerpt from page 2 of the book “Relationships…Me, Family, God” by Paul H. Dunn and Richard M. Eyre:

“One clear, mellow autumn evening, under the tall elms that lined their street, she slipped her hand into his and whispered above the silence, “Dad… what is the most important thing of all?” It was a silly question in one way… profound in another… She knew it was… but it was a night for questions like that… they had time. The father thought as they walked, for several silent minutes, and then gave his daughter the correct answer in one word; “Relationships.” The thought had never occurred to him like that before, yet as he spoke it, he knew it held a kind of inspiration, and his mind formulated questions to teach his daughter what he felt. “Can you think of a better measure of happiness than the number and depth of the relationships a person has?” The moonlight caught her hair as she turned her head, “Certainly not money… not possessions… perhaps testimony and conviction that God lives… but that is a relationship, isn’t it… with God?” His thoughts rushed to hers: “What is that relationship… with God… what is its nature?” “Father-son.” “You know, we say it so often… I wonder if we really hear it. Does the phrase ‘I am a child of God’ stop in your mind as it passes through your ears? And how many do you think actually believe the phrase… (Assuming understanding it is a prerequisite for believing it)?” “Not many, Dad… If we did, we would spend more time strengthening and improving that relationship.” He nodded and then continued, teaching himself as he taught her… “Is there anything you can take with you… from this life to the next besides the relationships you’ve formed?” He paused for a while… formulating what he thought was a complete answer: “Being able to retain our relationships beyond this earth must be our greatest blessing… but there is more we can take… Knowledge, judgment, capabilities… everything we become internally while we are here.” They walked in silence for a few moments, and then her definition of “relationships” broadened to match his, and she continued, “Relationships with yourself… that’s what all these things are.” From that plateau, she reached again: “Is there anything else? I mean, if a person were suddenly stripped of all the relationships they had… would there be anything left?” “No… nothing… except maybe the potential to build new relationships.” Now her thoughts were overtaking each other. His answers went beyond her questions and took her mind to deeper perspectives. “Can’t almost everything be translated into a relationship… our problems, our accomplishments, our worries and concerns, our joys and pleasures…? Not everything comes from one relationship or another… And if it does, why don’t we focus more of our efforts on relationships?” “I don’t know, Dad… I guess partly because we all work so hard to achieve… to get things done and obtain material things.That word is really the word for villain, isn’t it?… “Things”… things are the antithesis of people; and that’s the choice we face so often… people or things… relationships or achievements.