Be a Neighbor

What happened to the days when we cared about one another? Those days when being a neighbor meant something? What happened to the days when if your neighbor needed help you were there for them even if you didn’t like them or barely knew them, just because they were your neighbor?

Most religious texts and beliefs have some sort of statement about caring for our neighbors. The Bible even says “Love your neighbor as yourself”. What do we suppose that means? Well I think it’s fairly obvious that we are supposed to care about our neighbors as much as we are concerned for or care about ourselves. Then we must question, in this day and age, who is our neighbor? How do we define neighbor?

The first obvious answer is that our neighbors are those that live close to us or directly around us. Some people think of their neighbors only as those who live directly next to them on either side. Others consider their neighbors anyone within a block. And still other folks might consider anyone within a small community to be their neighbor. These are all correct but I’d like to even expand upon that idea.

In this day and age we have telephones, internet, cable and so many other ways of communicating with each other that bring us closer together. By bringing us closer together we have all essentially become neighbors. This means that my friend who I talk to daily online but who lives hundreds of miles away from me is in a way still my neighbor. He is my neighbor in the global community and I have some responsibility to care about him.

What does this mean to be concerned for or care about or love our neighbors? In my mind it means that if they are suffering or struggling then we, as their neighbors, should have some responsibility to reach out to them with support and kindness. This might be emotional support, it might be financial support, it might be by providing some assistance that we can manage to provide, but it means we should be concerned and offer what we can. Now I’m not saying offer what we cannot. We are all struggling in different ways. I cannot help anyone financially but I can be there as a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. I might be able to buy you a loaf of bread or some macaroni and cheese to help you out. Someone else might be able to give you a ride to the store or to an appointment. Another neighbor might be able to provide some other help as well.