STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

The Parable of the Considerate Neighbor:

Everyone who follows Jesus's teaching to love others is like the considerate neighbor who enclosed his yard with a chain-link fence. Each morning he would let his large dog out to poop. The dog ran to the fence and sniffed along the edge of the property until he did his business. Later in the day, the considerate neighbor would go out with his pooper scooper and clean up the mess.

And everyone who hears Jesus's words to love others but does not act on them is like the inconsiderate neighbor who also had a large dog but refused to fence in the yard. Each morning, he would let his pet out to answer nature's call. Without a backyard fence, the dog wandered into the adjoining yards. The dog defecated in various places on the lawns and under the bushes of the neighbors. Never once did the inconsiderate neighbor make any effort to clean up after his own dog.

A Question to Ponder:

What would your neighbors say if they were asked about how considerate you are to them?

STEP THREE: PRAY

Gracious God,

you command us to treat others as we would like them to treat us. Guide us in our loving so that we might make a difference in the place where we live. Strengthen us to be a good neighbor and to share Jesus's love in what we say and do.

Through Christ, Amen.