Love Your Neighbor


 


I always enjoy passing this house where the owners rotate great signs from time to time in the front yard. This is my favorite. I think it captures perfectly the teaching of Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In that wonderful story we hear the Great
Commandment that fulfills all commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” In the story, Jesus goes on to broaden the definition of neighbor for us all.
We all must stand against the tendency to love only those who look like us. As my mentor and friend always taught me, “All our spots don’t have to match to love one another.” In a world where we have the ability to hear only opinions with which we already agree and to insulate ourselves from the opinions and people different from ourselves, we need to hear this message.
Who knows what we might learn from our neighbors. Who knows what we will find we have in common if we take time to share our stories. What experiences do we share in common? What hopes might we share? What fears? What dreams do we hold in common for our children, our communities, our world? Our lives might be changed by loving our neighbors with no exceptions. Or world might just be changed as well.
Peace.

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