In the gym I belong to, each member has an electronic key to open the entry door. One cold day, I heard a tapping on the door's window but ignored the sound. The tapping stopped but then began again.
I glanced over my shoulder through the windowed entrance to see a young woman wearing lightweight exercise clothes and shivering from the cold. When I caught the eye of John, a fellow member, I asked, "Do you know that lady?" He replied that he didn't but then hurried to open the door. The woman had forgotten her keys when she left the gym earlier and couldn't get into her car or back inside the building.
John had immediately responded to the woman's need - treating the shivering woman as a member, a part of the family. That's the way Christ would have us treat others. He calls us to open the door and welcome them with acceptance and hope. Christ understands each person's situation and asks us to respond to that person with love and respect. In this way, we can put God's love into action and enhance our relationships with others and with God.
