The ungodly hour of 6:45 a.m. finds me standing in line at Starbucks. I need to fuel up before my hour-long trek to work. But the line is short. There are just two guys in front of me. They are annoyingly chipper and having an animated conversation. They approach the counter and appear to notice the vast menu on the wall. This creates quite the dilemma. The broad selection of tasty drinks has obviously boggled their senses and they are overwhelmed with the choices. They dither. I want to strangle them.

A glimpse at my watch tells me that this delay will cause me to hit the dreaded college traffic. I fanaticise grabbing each man’s head and clanking them together. Rather, I start to wool gather, reviewing my weekend... The Sunday at Church had been amazing, thanks to a videotaped interview featuring Bono, lead singer of the rock band U2. He emphasised that concern for others should not be restricted by boundaries and borders. And then, leaning forward in his chair, he delivered a simple reminder: “Love Thy Neighbour is a commandment, not a suggestion.” Like a smack, Bono’s words come back to me as Larry and Curly finally place their order.

“Sorry we took so long,” one apologises. “Don’t worry about it,” I mumble, feeling very much the hypocrite. How impressed I’d been with yesterday’s message, yet how quickly I’d forgotten it. Love thy neighbour, indeed. Even at Starbucks. Nobody ever said it would be easy. — Beliefnet.com