When I was five years old, I moved into my Ferry Farms’ neighborhood. I have lived here as an owner longer than I lived as a child. Indeed, the changes hit me as I reflect on the almost 40 years (separated by 20 years) of living in my neighborhood.
Today more people walk their dogs than people walk children around the block. Today every sale of a house brings a wholesale teardown followed by a slew of contractors and tearing up adjacent yards. Today I don’t have access to the neighborhood homes as I did as a child.
As I reflect on the years, the neighbors, and our interactions, I am again struck by the story found in Luke’s gospel about the rich young man asking Jesus who is my neighbor? Several neighbors who spanned my childhood and adulthood time in this neighborhood have passed away. These were neighbors who didn’t only know my mom and dad, but they also knew most of my children and me.
My neighbors are the ones:
- Whose lawn my kids mow.
- Whose snowed driveway my kids have shoveled.
- Who organized cookie exchanges and semi-annual outdoor gatherings.
- Who stop gardening to chat by the fence when we walk past their yard.
- Whose number I have on my phone because they won’t put their number in the directory.
My neighbors
- Keep my mail for me while I am on vacation.
- Share their seeds and bulbs to use in my garden.
- Ask about how the kids are doing.
- Still have stories to share about my parents or children that I haven’t heard yet.
Not all is well in the neighborhood. There is undoubtably an amount of dispute and petty bickering. One set of neighbors who were best friends built their fences over a boundary dispute. These neighbors never repaired their relationship. The wall is a constant reminder that even decades of friendship are undermined by an unwillingness to bend.
Contrast that with a set of neighbors who are different politically, nationally, and generationally. Despite those differences and heated exchanges, they concluded their relationship was more valuable than their respective positions. Spoiler, one of those neighbors lived in both stories. We are complicated.
My neighbor isn’t just the person who knocks on my door. My neighbor isn’t just the person who walks past my yard. My neighbor is also the one who crosses my path as I step out into the world. If I can’t figure out how to love my neighbor in the first instance, I will undoubtedly miss the other.
Who is my neighbor? According to Jesus’s words, the one who I have mercy on and who shows mercy to me.
Who is your neighbor?
I agree on all of the above and would add:
my neighbor is someone who challenges me to live my faith openly and to love generously
my neighbor is someone for whom God calls on me to pray
my neighbor is the harried retail worker who has a long line at the checkout
So many people who need grace and mercy. So many lost. I love that refocus. Thank you!
Amen and Yes. How vital we come first to the source of grace and mercy each day!