Who is Your Neighbor?

Living on an isolated ranch, off the grid, at the end of a long dirt road, we don't have a lot of  'neighbors' that pass by our door.  We do have a lot of critters that come by though.  Here's a few:




We also have a loving Salmon Creek Community that we are grateful to be a part of.  Recently, our  little school had a Halloween fund raiser and we helped at the door a bit and had a fun time dancing under the stars with a diverse group of folks.  We were, of course,  the ones dressed as 'Jolly Ranchers'!

We also belong and care deeply about our fellow Humboldt county residents and  our fellow Americans who share the same constitution and tract of land that we call these United States.  Is there any end to who is our 'neighbor' as we even call nearby planets, neighboring planets? 

In the Bible a lawyer is questioning Jesus on how to get to heaven.  Jesus replies, ' to love God and to love your neighbor.''   Jesus then goes on to tell one of our favorite parables. It is about a traveler who is robbed, stripped of clothing, beaten and left beside the road.  First to walk by this poor man is a priest and he crosses over to the other side of the road.  Next to pass is a Levite  and he also goes by without helping.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came by and helped him.  Jesus then asks, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into trouble?"

Today, we were in nearby Eureka and we wandered around the city a bit.  We scared a homeless man who had made his home under an old railway bridge, he settled down when he realized we weren’t going to hurt him  and we chatted a while.  He seemed sweet, but off a bit.  Many more homeless walked past us on our meanderings, some said hi, others averted their gaze.  We later stopped for a bite to eat and sat outside in the sun enjoying our lunch.  A poor beggar came by and tried talking to us, but he made absolutely no sense.  His clothes hung from his skinny frame and his eyes were a bit sunk into his skull.  I was a bit taken aback and said nothing.  It was awkward.  His fingers reached so ever slightly toward my food as he mumbled something about a check.  I wish I'd been a better neighbor to him and given him a bite to eat.  Instead I just sat there as  mute and still as these birds.




Tonight,  I think about who is my neighbor.  (Besides the cattle, and hogs and wild turkeys.) 

What do you think about neighbors?