Reflection: “People in your neighborhood”

My family and I actually live in a neighborhood where people say, "Howdy Neighbor!" Sounds a bit old-fashioned, but when we know there are neighborhoods where people have bars on their windows or have had drive-by shootings, we don't mind a bit. Many of us are glad our street is a place where people still give a wave or nod of the head, knowing at anytime one of us can say, "Hey, we'll be gone for a few days." and another will respond with, "No problem. We'll keep an eye open." And it's an extra bonus knowing none of us are really busy bodies or nosey because we've all got our own thing going on. ...

Sounding a little like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, from way back when? Well, a little. Over the years though, like everyone else, all of us personally have had to deal with minor inconveniences, and at other times, some pretty serious things, some more than others. From a short distance all of us on occasion have felt the agony or the frustration of another during those testing times.  It's kind of like extended family, living with each other as we stretch and grow. As we in a pinch share with each other celebrations or sorrows that our separate paths of life bring, not taking for granted that each of our paths have been more blessed by living where we do.

This past month, my family was reminded of this blessedness one more time. Our dogs got out... again. We have a German Shepherd who in the last couple of years has developed a real phobia of thunder, firecrackers, etc. But she doesn't just tremble and coward, she rips off fence boards with her teeth and claws; moves more than 70 pounds of weight in front of gates even though she has a crippled hip, squeezes through 5-inch spaces - she once broke through two gates to get out of the yard, just to go to the other side and break back into the yard through another gate. The only place she seems to want to be is on our kitchen floor.  

Well, when the thunderstorms went through this past month, one weekend when we were not home, it was our neighbors who took it upon their selves to deal with our frightened, "escape artist" dog and her two followers, instead of just calling the dog pound. Two young children, one strong man, and directions and advice from others, from at least three separate homes, got our three large, older - and probably stinky, dogs out of harm's way. It wasn't an easy task because at least the shepherd didn't want to budge. The whole ordeal took almost an hour, and tears, brawl, and frustration all got involved, but the neighbors didn't give up until they knew the dogs were safe again. Of course when we found out what happened we said "Thank you!" but that just didn't seem like enough. Everyone shrugged it off like it wasn't that big of a deal, but we knew it was. Some gave advice, but no one complained, at least not to us.

Once when Jesus told a crowd of people to "Love your neighbor as yourself." someone who was in expert in the law, hoping to better his self, asked, "Who's our neighbor?" The guy next door... Across the street, down the block ... I think he missed the point after hearing Jesus' reply. To answer the person, Jesus told a story about a man who was badly hurt by robbers and left to die on a roadside. Jesus comments on three people, all very knowledgeable in the laws of God, who for some reason or another when passing the man just didn't help the guy. 

It was a very unpopular person of the times, a Samaritan, who ended up going beyond the call of duty to see that the hurt man got the proper care he needed. At the end of the story, then Jesus asks the man, "So who was a neighbor to the man in need?" The man answered that it was the one who showed mercy. And Jesus said, "Go and do likewise." (Account taken from Luke 10:25-37 NIV) Jesus' point seeming to be, that it isn't "which" person that we're going to pick and chose to love like our self, but whom are "we" going to be a neighbor to, the emphasize being on the one giving, not the one receiving.

In the end, it's up to us to choose to be a neighbor to whoever may be in need of a neighbor. In this story, it was one who chose to extend his self, in order to show mercy to another who was in need. My family is blessed because we live in a community of people who chose to be neighbors, from the least to greatest, the youngest to the oldest, - it's not about how close we live next to someone, or what kind of neighbors we‘ve been. It's about the people around us who chose not to ignore the needs of those who cross their paths, people who chose to extend themselves to aid those in need. 

"Howdy Neighbors!" This one's for you!