Who is my Neighbor? With that question (from an expert in religious law), Jesus gave an illustration that would have upset any member of his audience. Because the story was told about a man from another race (Samaritan) having mercy on a fellow Jew, this was hard for them to swallow. Jesus flipped the script on them and told about a member of a despised neighboring race who had mercy on a beaten down traveler. This story of compassion has been told in many Sunday school classes and provides a basis for us when we ask the same question, Who is My Neighbor? Jesus answer and therefore the answer for us, is that anyone we come in contact with who needs our help. Next Door, at work, at Walmart, in our daily travels, wherever, there are people who may need our help and Jesus would say that these people are our neighbors. I bring this up for two reasons: 1. Jesus answer is always the right answer. 2. There are stories in the news (2 in particular lately) that show a disturbing trend in our society to ignore (fail to check on), or fail to show compassion to our neighbors. The first story I read about was of a woman in Michigan who was found dead after 6 years. She had her bills automatically paid from her bank account and was only found after the bills stopped getting paid. (Actually the home was falling into foreclosure). Her grass was cut and the bills were getting paid and the mail sent to the Post Office, so why would anyone think anything was wrong? Neighbors said she traveled a lot and was out of town for weeks at a time for work. When she was home she kept to herself. OK, so she wasnt real social. But for 6 years? Come on! As shocking as that story was, it was followed about a month later with this one: The bodies of 2 men were found in their home in Tennessee. They were twins, aged 63, and both were found sitting in their recliners. They lived together but didnt communicate much with other people. Their own family thought they might have moved. One family member had a key to the residence. They were only dead for 3 years. I think its safe to say that, at a minimum, somebody should have checked on these folks. But as long as youre getting paid to cut their grass and the mortgage is still paid on time, you know... These are not isolated cases. It happens more than you think. But do people deserve to die alone just because they chose to live that way? If they had more friends, would they have deserved to live longer? I know we like to respect peoples wishes and give them their privacy, but this? I think were in sad shape as a country when we cant at least check to see if someone needs help. God please help us to be aware of who our neighbors are each day.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:12:31 +0000
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