Robbie: (Appears by himself on the stage.) Hi kids, today we are going to talk about the next fruit of the...

Narfy: (Panicked.) Robbie! Robbie! Boy am I glad to see you!

Robbie: Oh, hi Narfy. What's got you so upset this morning?

Narfy: You wouldn't believe me if I told you!

Robbie: Oh, well OK. So as I was saying, kids. Today we're going to talk about...

Narfy: Robbie!

Robbie: What.

Narfy: What is the matter with you! I who am usually the calmest, coolest and most-collected person you know am obviously very upset. Don't you care what happened to me to make me this upset?

Robbie: You told me I wouldn't believe you if you told me!

Narfy: Oh! Stop listening to me and listen to me! I just had a very scary experience.

Robbie: Ok, Narfy. Tell us about all about it.

Narfy: Well, I was walking down 5th street when saw coming in the opposite direction, a dog. The dog was happy and wagging his tail so I thought it would be ok to pet him. I walked up to him and he sniffed my hand and kept wagging his tail. I petted him and he seemed friendly enough so I decided to try to play with him.

Robbie: OK, so far so good...

Narfy: Well, that's when things went downhill fast! I started playing with the doggie and all of the sudden he turned around and growled at me and ran away! Can you believe it?

Robbie: Wow! That's terrible, Narfy! We have to be careful about playing with strange dogs. What did you do then?

Narfy: I left and came here. I was scared the dog was going to bite my hand!

Robbie: Hmm... That's too bad, Narfy. Something doesn't make sense about your story, though.

Narfy: What's that?

Robbie: Well first of all, the dog came up wagging his tail and liked it when you petted him. He sounds like a nice doggie. Why do you think he growled at you and ran away?

Narfy: Maybe he didn't like the way I played with him.

Robbie: Hmm... the plot thickens. Just what did you play with the dog, Narfy?

Narfy: Well, first I played walk the dog. I found a string and tied it to the dog's collar. Then I took him for a walk. He wanted to go towards the store but I wanted to go toward the playground. He pulled in one direction and I pulled in the other. Finally I yelled at him and pulled the leash hard toward the playground. The dog yelped and I think it might have hurt his neck. That's when the string came untied and he turned around, growled at me and ran away.

Robbie: Narfy, I think I know what happened. You were very rough with that doggie! You pulled on him in a direction he didn't want to go and you yelled at him. He probably thought you were trying to hurt him so he got scared.

Narfy: You really think so?

Robbie: Yes. And when a dog gets scared, it sometimes growls to warn you to stay away. You're lucky he ran away because some dogs will bite if they don't like what you are doing to them.

Narfy: Robbie, I feel awful! I didn't mean to scare the doggie. Should I try to find the doggie again and see what he wants to play?

Robbie: If you are very careful and take a grown-up with you, it would be a nice thing to do. Don't feel too bad, though Narfi. Your story is actually kind of a good thing in disguise.

Narfy: It is?

Robbie: Yep. Now I don't have to tell the kids how important the next fruit of the spirit is because you just did. The next fruit is gentleness. You were not gentle with the doggie, you were just the opposite of gentle. You were rough and a little bit mean to the doggie. Because you didn't show gentleness to the doggie, you scared him and he almost bit you!

Narfy: So my story is an example of what NOT to do?

Robbie: Well, yeah. I guess that's it.

Narfy: Oh. How embarrassing.

Robbie: It's ok, Narfy. From now on you can try to always be gentle, with animals and more importantly with people. Jesus told us to love one another as we love ourselves. He wants us to treat ourselves gently and not roughly. He wants us to treat others gently too.

Narfy: Wow. Thanks Robbie! (Slaps Robbie on the back hard.)

Robbie: Ow. Gently, Narfy! Remember, gentleness?

Narfy: Oh, yeah. Sorry Robbie. Let me help you up... gently!

Robbie: Thanks! Much better!

The End