A neighbor is just a random person who lives near you, someone who gets their mail at about the same time you do. It’s the most arbitrary connection in the world. And yet Jesus put “love your neighbor as yourself” at the heart of his description of religious life. The person we are called to love is anyone we come in contact with whether we have reason to like them or not.
Who have you treated with love recently, simply because they were there?
New neighbors and home buyers on the right side recently. Two dogs with them (fenced) that bark up a storm whenever my car comes down the driveway or I walk around in the yard. At first I shouted…yes shouted….no…NO. Didn’t work. Called police unknowingly to them, I think. They tried a system trying to keep them from barking. Hasn’t worked. No discipline there, such as swatting with a folded newspaper. So, I carry dog biscuits in the back of my car and entice them to the fence and treat them while saying “good dog”. Keeps on happening. I usually take more action but at this point I’ve just let it happen. Actually Roscoe(especially) and Lucy are kind of nice but I wish they were better trained.
Yesterday I found a bus pass on the back sidewalk. I kept asking around until I found the neighbor in my apartment building that it belonged to. She was happy to get it back.