Lent Day 7: Doing to others

I'm feeling guilty. I'd want someone walking by my windblown recycling bin to put papers back into the pile for me. Sure, I did reload a few newspapers, but I didn't do it all. I strolled onward, walking the dogs. Was I obligated to do more?

Apparently, since I remember something left undone. Scripture holds believers to a high standard of doing, not as a "earn-salvation" plot, but as a reflection of all God has done for us.

Buddha and other religious leaders warned their followers not to do to others what they wouldn't have done to themselves.

Jesus was much bolder: "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

I would have liked someone to clean up the mess left by wind and weather. Next time, I plan to do better to others, remembering everything Jesus did for us - for beyond people's expectations - because he set out to please his Father above all.