Where we live we have neighbors unwilling to know to many around them. They stay among themselves yet further up the street there are some who will visit.
The despised Samaritan “neighbor,”
the “least of these my children,”
the lowly poor, the prisoner, the naked and the weak,
the foreign/unbeliever “woman by the well” …
They’re the most powerful people in the Bible,
and the ones Jesus advocated the most for.
I hope Joe eventually gets how great a thing it is to love them.
Joe, God most certainly has noticed them - and that’s the point.
The real point is that the “other guy” – the neighbor – is you, to anyone else. We should love each other if only because we would want others to love us and give us the benefit of the doubt when we’re not particularly lovable.
It’s easy to love the neighbor when they are not around. It’s a lot harder when they are there, their dog is barking, or the fence is shot, or you have to listen to their idea of music pounding away.
Neighbors keep us real.
Besides, in the desert culture (Semitic: both Jewish and Arab), strangers were not the problem. Strangers could be taken home and feasted, and then they would vanish back to the incomprehensible places they came from.
A neighbor, on the other hand, is someone who will drink your wells dry and use the forage to feed his flocks. A neighbor is someone you can feud with for generations. A neighbor is someone worthy of being hated as an enemy. That’s why it’s so hard to love a neighbor.
DagNabIt! over 14 years ago
Yup, Joe, that’s when they see that it’s real. You have wise teachers.
peter0423 over 14 years ago
If all of our neighbors were lovable, it wouldn’t have to be a commandment. :)
kab2rb over 14 years ago
Where we live we have neighbors unwilling to know to many around them. They stay among themselves yet further up the street there are some who will visit.
avonsalis over 14 years ago
The despised Samaritan “neighbor,” the “least of these my children,” the lowly poor, the prisoner, the naked and the weak, the foreign/unbeliever “woman by the well” …
They’re the most powerful people in the Bible, and the ones Jesus advocated the most for. I hope Joe eventually gets how great a thing it is to love them. Joe, God most certainly has noticed them - and that’s the point.
peter0423 over 14 years ago
The real point is that the “other guy” – the neighbor – is you, to anyone else. We should love each other if only because we would want others to love us and give us the benefit of the doubt when we’re not particularly lovable.
tamron over 14 years ago
@scaaty: You are spot on.
bmonk over 14 years ago
It’s easy to love the neighbor when they are not around. It’s a lot harder when they are there, their dog is barking, or the fence is shot, or you have to listen to their idea of music pounding away.
Neighbors keep us real.
Besides, in the desert culture (Semitic: both Jewish and Arab), strangers were not the problem. Strangers could be taken home and feasted, and then they would vanish back to the incomprehensible places they came from. A neighbor, on the other hand, is someone who will drink your wells dry and use the forage to feed his flocks. A neighbor is someone you can feud with for generations. A neighbor is someone worthy of being hated as an enemy. That’s why it’s so hard to love a neighbor.