Who is my neighbor?

This question is age old, at least a couple thousand years old.  There is an old story told by the One I follow (or attempt to) that is a response to this very question.  A story about an outcast of sorts, not one that in the eyes of the very pious or the clergy of the time to give a second thought to.  Not a thought more than how helping a person dying on the side of a rough road could damage their "holiness."  Yet, the moral of this story is that the "irreligious" one, the one who was not worshipping at the right church in the right way.  The one that the religious would say was headed down the wrong path with no chance of redemption.  Not from that side of town, not with that ethnicity, not from that church.  Yet he was the one who showed kindness to a stranger.  Not even just a small act of kindness, rather he went with the big sacrificial kindness, a delay on a business trip, a large financial sum, and follow up. To read the whole story you need to go to Luke 10:25-37.  

This is the road Jesus has called us to follow Him down.  There is a cost.  The reward is not usually tangible.  And if it were, it would not be a sacrifice.  It is not an easy road.  Getting involved in the lives of other people gets complicated and sticky and sometimes it can be painful and frustrating.  And sometimes our intentions to "do good" or "meet needs" are not what the person on the side of the road wants or needs because we, in our high position to give out help,  can fail to listen or really see the other person. 

Seeing the other person is what I am learning how to do as we have opened our church doors to English Classes to refugees and immigrants.  Each has a story about getting to Nashville. Some came out of desperation to feed their family, some came out of curiosity, some were captured by the allure of the "American Dream," some were persecuted in their countries and were forced to come and be separated from family and friends and culture." Each of these children of God has a unique challenge in acclimating to a brand new country with sometimes drastically different customs from their country of origin.  Challenges of learning a new language, operating in a different type of governmental system, navigating a school system, and sometimes learning to drive, even shopping can be overwhelming. 

What a time in someone's life it must be to live in this much chaos, confusion, and for some fear.  What an opportunity we have to be neighbors to these on the side of the road of life, trying to merge into our American culture.  Some of them are literally walking on the side of the roads we drive on our way to Hillcrest.  Sometimes I meet them in the parking lot on their way to English class, or to their plot in the Community Garden.  

What an opportunity we have to shine the light on the hill and to walk alongside our neighbors as they face their many challenges.  Maybe we can offer them kindness in a world that is confused by their presence here.  Maybe, we can even offer them friendship or an invitation to be a part of our spiritual family.  Maybe, we can take the courageous steps that we are called to take and recognize our neighbors all around us.