Skip to main content

For Their Good

             Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. (Romans 15:2)

 

            I suspect we tend to have one of four responses to our neighbors. First, we are people people so we love spending time with them because it makes us feel good. Second, we are narcissists so we love spending time with them because it makes us feel good about ourselves. Third, we’re introverts and don’t want to bother or be bothered by our neighbors. Fourth, we want to be good neighbors, but it's too stressful. Today’s passage doesn’t fit into any of those well.

One of the things I love about where I live in Florida is the sense of community that comes about, in part, because we have convenient central meeting places and volunteers who lead in activities from games and crafts to dancing lessons and exercise sessions. I live in a typical 1960s neighborhood in Pennsylvania, with many yards separated by fences and no central meeting place. I’m far from doing more with my front yard than I am doing, but there’s an idea sneaking around in my head that I should find a way to put out a couple of chairs and a table. There’s no level spot for them, and I don’t want to disturb the bird and butterfly sanctuary I have in mind. I’m also not sure that more than two people might consider using it – only if I’m there to entertain. My reaction to that is “Ugh!” The only other option is to start inviting people to visit. That’s even worse.

I’m not sure any of that will come to pass, and part of me is cheering that it might not, but today’s passage calls for some level of effort and if I’m doing anything at all toward building up my neighbors, it’s minimal. Over the last few days, I think I’ve sounded like I’m having a pity party, but the faults I find with myself are meant to be examples. You have your faults, too – but I’m not harping on them. Those are strings I hope you’ll have the courage to strum for yourself.

And as often happens, I am working on the notion that I will go from 1 mph to 150 mph in 3 seconds. So, let’s all get back to reality. There’s a lot that I really can’t do. But there are little things I can do. I pick up litter as I walk Grace in the morning. There are a few neighbors with whom I have a casual acquaintance. Two neighbors and I are gardeners, and we chat. I help another neighbor with her garden and repay her for my harvesting of some of her produce by giving her things I make.

Unless God gives you a big dream for some big ministry, leaning on fences to chat, picking up litter, or sharing one’s bounty are good places to start. Crawl before walking. Walk before running. And when it comes to little things, I can do to help my neighbors, a few crafts come to mind. And, it comes to mind that building up your neighbors can include the creatures with whom one shares a territory (as three Starlings discover the suet feeder has been refilled.) The key seems to be consciousness – awareness of others and doing the obvious and good for them. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more