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Good morning. Are you a creature of habit, I wonder?  Most of us like to think that we are not – and it can come as a surprise to discover that we are rather more driven by our habits than we would care to imagine.
The other day, I found myself on a three-day training course.  Part way through the first morning, when spirits were flagging and thoughts were turning to a lunch-break the trainer asked us all to stand up. With much shuffling of chairs and dropping of pens, we did.  Then he asked us to fold our arms – which we all did without even thinking about it.  It was only when he asked to unfold them and fold them the other way that it all became a little more interesting.  I was amazed to discover how hard it was to perform such a simple task against my natural habit.
Throughout the rest of the course we would think about listening differently, talking differently – and even being differently with each other.  That little exercise with the arm folding would prove to be a constant reference point in all that followed.  Perhaps, if we can do that differently, then  other habits can be un-learned too?
When Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan, you can almost hear the ‘groan’ down through the centuries.  To his contemporary audience, Samaritans were a breed apart – and not to be trusted.  That is the whole point of the story, though.  The Samaritan, the only one in the story who behaves in the loving way that God expects him to do.  Jesus was asking his listeners to unfold their thinking and fold it another way instead.
Dear God, help me today to unravel those habits which stop me from seeing the best in others, and to think differently. Amen