As I go through this wilderness time of Lent, I have made extra time to work on areas of faith that are hardest for me. I have also included more time with God - more time spent in prayer, in supplication, in thanksgiving and in LISTENING so I can get closer to hearing what God is wanting from me and from my life.
One area which is a constant struggle for me, and I think for many of us, is that of loving our neighbor. Last week I had an incident with someone living on the next block over from me, and as it happened I made sure I was intentional in my response.
Bella and I were walking down the sidewalk and Bella was not on her leash as it was morning and my hip was not working so well yet. We came to a house by a wooded area and just below us in the backyard were three deer! These deer live in the neighborhood so Bella and I run into them all of the time. She has chased them, been nose to nose with them, and we have kept them from getting run over a few times. So we know these deer.
Bella took off after them through the deep, deep snow so there was no chance she was even getting close but she was trespassing and I called her back immediately and put on her leash. We were slowly continuing our walk when a man from a house on the opposite side of the street came running out, shouting and threatening me about what he would do if he ever caught me letting Bella chase those deer again! In fact, he said it was against the law to chase deer and I needed to keep the dog on a leash and not get near those deer again.
As he was yelling I tried to control my reaction. I wanted to say that I doubted there was a law against chasing deer and I wanted to tell him we interact with these deer all the time, but I didn't. I realized what he needed was to say what he had to say, even if in the form of a threat, and he needed to have me acknowledge this was an issue for him. And that's what I did. I acknowledged that I had heard him and did not say anything in my defense. After all he was right that Bella should have been on a leash, and for some reason these deer were a source of anxiety for him. So, we went our way after letting him know he had been heard.
Of course I was still thinking about the incident later in the day, and I told a friend about what had happened. I acknowledged that it is hard to love my neighbors as myself but I thought I had been on the right track that morning. My friend looked at me strangely. He said he has always believed you have to like someone before you love them. I then talked about Jesus asking us to love our neighbors as ourselves, treating people with respect whether we like the way they present themselves or no matter their beliefs. My friend had trouble with that and I said - "well, what about your family? Do you like them first and then love them?" My friend looked stunned as he thought about that.
We are called to LOVE our neighbors, ie treat them with the respect we would want others to treat us. That is what Jesus calls us to do as people of faith. Even if the person is saying the opposite of what I believe I am called to love them and uphold their right to have an opinion different from mine. That's part of the great diversity of God's creation, and in the wilderness it's a great thing to remember and to practice.
Blessings on your wilderness journey!
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