I Don’t Have Time NOT to Love My Neighbors It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I was at my desk paying some bills (and maybe checking Facebook just a little). My husband, David, was working hard in the yard, and our daughter was hanging out in her room. I heard shouting from our backyard—very faintly, but I thought I heard, “Help! Help!” I ran to the back door and saw our neighbor on the other side of the fence shouting HELP—but he was pointing to my yard. I followed his pointing and some more shouting until I saw David. It was David who needed help, and he shouted, “I’m on fire!” His pants had caught on fire as he was burning leaves in our backyard. I went ten directions at once as I ran to get my phone to call 911. The next thing I knew, more neighbors were there—a neighbor from across the street was suddenly standing next to me in my bedroom, getting wet towels (to this day she doesn’t know why she went out to her garage, where she, too, heard shouts for help). Her husband—who happens to be a doctor—was with David, looking at his burns and telling us what to do. (He was so calm—especially compared to me! Our daughter said, “Next time, Mom, I’ll call 911. You were really freaking out!”) Our neighbors helped get David to the car and told us what to do when we got to the emergency room. At the hospital, one of the nurses also happened to be one of our neighbors! I met her when I knocked on her door to invite her over for coffee. Mickey gave us her cell phone number and told us to call anytime. I used to think, “I don’t have time to love my neighbors, . . .” but after that weekend, I know, “I don’t have time not to love my neighbors!” Jesus said this whole “love your neighbor” idea is the most important thing we can do after loving God (Luke 10:27). We can do it “because God said so,” but there’s another very practical reason to love our neighbors: They have a big impact on our daily lives. Loving God takes care of eternal life. Loving our neighbors takes care of life today. Consider these ways our neighbors impact our everyday lives, from The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods by John McKnight and Peter Block: Health: Even if you don’t have a nurse and a doctor living next door, studies show that how long we live and how often we are sick are influenced by our social relationships and our physical environment. Safety: There are two major factors that determine a neighborhood’s safety: Knowing our neighbors’ names and doing activities with them. Police activity is a minor protection compared with these two factors. Environment: What is the global environment but a lot of neighborhoods put together? Consider how we heat, cool, and light our homes; trash and recycling, chemicals we use and dispose of. Economy: Most businesses that generate tax revenue and provide jobs are started locally in garages, basements, and dining rooms, and their first dollars come from friends and family—not banks and venture capitalists. Food: Eating locally grown food would fill our tables with fresh, preservative-free food that could be grown without pesticides and wouldn’t have to be hauled all over the earth at great expense or use of energy. This would help our local agricultural economy while improving our heath. Children: Instead of paying others to raise, educate, transport, train, feed, and entertain our children, imagine if our children were known and loved and cared for by not only their own parents, but by everyone who lived nearby. Care: We hire our caregivers, from childcare and elder care to cleaning services and lawn companies. These institutions and businesses offer products and services for a profit—but care is a commitment from one heart to another. God showed me so clearly why my family needs our neighbors. He even nudged one of our neighbors to bring us a plate of still-warm-from-the-oven brownies when they learned what had happened. Our neighbors were there for us; they were a true help to us. I’m so thankful my husband’s serious burns completely healed, thanks in part to my neighbors’ quick thinking and God’s perfect plan for community.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 21:32:57 +0000
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