“Love your neighbour as yourself” the Gospel says (Matthew 22:38). But who is my neighbor? We often respond to that question by saying: “My neighbours are all the people I am living with on this earth, especially the sick, the hungry, the dying, and all who are in need.” But this is not what Jesus says. When Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan (see Luke 10:29-37) to answer the question “Who is my neighbour?” he ends the by asking: “Which, … do you think, proved himself a neighbor to the man who fell into the bandits’ hands?” The neighbour, Jesus makes clear, is not the poor man laying on the side of the street, stripped, beaten, and half dead, but the Samaritan who crossed the road, “bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them, … lifted him onto his own mount and took him to an inn and looked after him.” My neighbour is the one who crosses the road for me!
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On the Path to Jericho
Then on the path to Jericho,
I’m plagued by uncertainty,
“Is the man wearing a top coat
my neighbor?” A girl nudges me,
startles me with gentleness. We dance.
And the way she tells the story:
No one dances alone. “Include
is a verb,” she explains.
“Am I wearing the clothing of a liar?”
I ask. Thankfully, she does not answer.
First published In the Arms of Words: Poems for Tsunami Relief, limited edition, FootHills Publishing,(June 2005),and In the Arms of Words: Poems For Disaster Relief, Sherman Asher Publishing (October 2005)
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3 comments
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July 20, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Karen Hopper
Sobering thought. We say we love our neighbor but your poem gives question, do we really? Could we be “wearing the clothing of a liar”? It truly makes one search their soul. Powerful poetry.
July 20, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Jana Allard
Ditto Karen. This is convicting.
July 20, 2008 at 10:13 pm
helenl
Hi Jana and Karen, Thank you. I guess that poem works.