Who Is My Neighbour?

The teacher knew the law ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. He asked: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus answered with the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’…

Yesterday, responding to the war and suffering, the Patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem called for a global day of prayer and fasting for justice, reconciliation, peace, and an end to hatred and war.

The Good Samaritan teaches us that compassion is more important than religion or politics. Those with different nationality, religion and politics from mine are my neighbours.

Niece-Sara informed me that yesterday was ‘International Day For The Eradication Of Poverty’. Its purpose is to ‘acknowledge the challenges of those living in poverty, empower their voices, and seek solutions to alleviate and ultimately eliminate poverty.’

The ‘Good Samaritan’ speaks of upholding human dignity, recognising the value and humanity of the abandoned and forgotten… the poor and powerless are my neighbours.

Recently I’ve seen a number of folks wearing pink ribbons; October is breast cancer awareness month, with efforts to stress the importance of regular screening and earlier detection… encourage fundraising for breast cancer research… support people diagnosed with breast cancer.

Good friends and close family members have had breast cancer, have benefited from the skills of surgeons, the medication available…

The Good Samaritan speaks of treating immediate needs, taking time, care and compassion, enabling healing… the sick and suffering are my neighbours.

I’ve written before about my friend Kim before, her anorexia over twenty years… her GP claiming it was just a phase she’d grow out of… her years spent in hospitals and specialist eating disorders clinics… sharing her journey online, giving talks to medics to better understand and help eating disorders.

A friend designed this poster as part of a study he’s doing on Kim; Kim isn’t a case to be analysed, she’s an individual with needs, fears, hopes.

The Good Samaritan speaks of my personal, active involvement with actual people… the needy individual that I meet today is my neighbour.