Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?” And he said, “He that showed mercy on him.” Then said Jesus unto him, “Go and do thou likewise.” -Luke 10:36, 37

Being a neighbor can be a challenge. In today’s society, at least where I live, I find it hard to be a neighbor to those nearby because I truly don’t know what their needs are.

It’s as if in our society, we’ve somehow killed the definition of neighbor. We don’t turn to our neighbors for much of anything. We don’t let them know anything is wrong. People on the verge of bankruptcy live next to people who live comfortably.

The thing is that we have a large number of both private and government services that fill the place neighbors used to occupy

Take me for example. When bringing in the groceries the night before I’d bumped the dome light and it’d been on for more than 24 hours. As a result the battery was weak. I needed to get down to Fed/Ex Kinkos to make copies of our Christmas letter. My first instinct was to first wait for the battery to regain its charge. 10 minutes later, it hadn’t. I then thought of calling my auto club for a jump.

It was then an idea occurred to me. I looked across the way to the next row of townhouses. A light was on and a car parked out front. I walkd across the way. Maybe, I could ask, maybe they’d be my neighbor. I knocked on the door and a woman in her 20s answered.

I was nervous. She’d lived there not 60 feet from my front door for who knows how long. I said, “Hi, I’m your neighbor from across the street and my battery’s weak. I was wondering if you’d please give me a jump. I’ve got the jumper cables.”

She agreed and came over. I hooked up the cables and the car was jumped. I let her know that I really appreciated her help and that if she ever needed anything to let my wife and I know.

Looking at how much Americans give to those in need, I don’t think our greatest problem in being neighbors is our unwillingness to give, but rather to admit we need help with things that are both great and small. We’ll pay tow trucks, call cabs, take out payday loans, and go through all kinds of trouble before turning to our neighbors.

We’re like the man in Jesus’ parable journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho and beaten by thieves. But rather than lying by the side of the road and waiting for help, we manage to move ourselves behind a bush where no one can see us. Only when we’re willing to acknowledge our need to each other will we truly be neighorhoods and communities.

—–