I'm sorry I haven't really explained the title of this blog, probably due to the overwhelming amount of other material I've had to write about in the past month. Yet, despite not having any clear parameters, I feel like my blog posts have largely worked to answer the question "Who is my Neighbor?" The question itself comes from biblical context. In Luke 10:25 A man asks Jesus what he must do to enter heaven. Jesus responds with the question, "What is the law?" and the man answered, "Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind." and,"Love you neighbor as yourself." Naturally, the next question the man asked was "Who is my neighbor?" And that is the essential question. To whom must we devoted our love and our being to, so much that we can say that we love them as ourselves? As we all do, this man wanted to know exactly what he needed to do, because he didn't want to waste time loving anyone he didn't have to. Jesus answered this question with a simple story- the story of the good Samaritan.
In short, the story goes like this: A Jewish man was stripped, mugged, beaten and left for dead on the side of the road. Many religious leaders and fellow Jews traveled that road, but instead of stopping to help the man, they looked the other way and walked on by. A Samaritan, however, the enemy of the Jewish people, chose to stop, to dress the man's wounds, and to care for him in every way possible. The Samaritan brought the Jewish man to an inn to be cared for in the next few months with the Samaritan's own money. He did not let boundaries of race or religion or friendship or time stop him from caring for this man, as he would have cared for himself. According to Jesus, this is the definition of a neighbor. A neighbor is someone you love despite opposition, despite labels despite prejudice and despite circumstances. Everyone is a neighbor, no matter what. Therefore, we must love every person in the world as ourselves.
And so, this blog is about my experience with my neighbors in the world: Learning to love and being loved in the most amazing ways. Through this blog I am discovering who my neighbors are, and how they affect me; I'm discovering the meaning of the deepest kind of love. I hope that by reading you will be inspired to go and do likewise, to love despite opposition, and to appreciate the unconditional love your receive everyday from others. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Reading this post made me understand your other posts much more. In just three simple paragraphs you planted a deeper meaning in everyone's (or at least my) head about your blog, and going back to read some of your older posts was interesting in the context of this post.
ReplyDeleteI've always wondered what your blog post title was supposed to mean. When I first saw your blog post title, I thought that the blog was your residential neighbors and the experiences you've had with them.
ReplyDeleteI think your post does a great job of explaining what your title means and at retelling the story of the good Samaritan.
I'm glad you explained this, Grace. I have also wondered about the title. It made me think of My Neighbor Totoro, but I was also brought to mind of the phrase "love thy neighbor." It's also notable that one of the ten commandments admonishes Christians not to "bear false witness against your neighbor," which seems important, as well. (And somehow especially relevant in this season of more-horrid-than-usual national political discourse.)
ReplyDeleteGrace, I am having so much fun learning about you! This is such an important concept, and your explanation articulates it in a way that I think truly brings your blog together! I also really appreciate this post for another reason -- being raised an atheist, I can feel pretty lost sometimes when my friends reference Biblical stories, so thank you for laying this all out. I love how much this blog speaks to your personality and thoughts :-)
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else I too wondered what the meaning was... However now that I know I am intrigued. I love how we are going on a journey along with you (what i pulled from the last paragraph). Its very heavy and deep but also pretty cool!
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