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Out of Practice?

This past weekend I taught about neighbouring in Fairview, Alberta. The vibrant small community listened to a few true stories that help make neighbours and neighbourhoods flourish.  It was not a surprise to me that residents from Fairview had been practicing the art of neighbouring already.  Simple decisions, such as asking for eggs from the neighbours when you run out in the middle of baking, seemed more second nature.  It was a delight to hear that neighbours were part of life's plan.  Loving your neighbour was not an option!  (Practicing hospitality was not an option either - thanks to those who generously hosted us fort the weekend).

On Sunday morning, a youth leader shared some thoughts on the movie, "The Grace Card" (Netflix) which included a scene challenging a police officer to understand his mission to be outside the walls of his church.    This was great to hear since it played nicely into the teaching of neighbouring.  Loving your neighbour is hard to do from within the walls of a church, much the same as trying to harvest from inside the barn.  It is difficult to practice loving your neighbour when we have not practiced it for a very long time.  What Fairview reminded me of this weekend was that practicing  is important.  Many of us are "out of practice"; it is easier to not do it.

And thanks to Thomas, the young man who inspired me by reading Romans 10:14,15 -  "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

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Trust

This past June, I accidentally trusted a couple of guys at a block party.  I had arrived with the Neighbourhood Life travelling BBQ and began helping with the set up.  It seems that people like to ask questions about this travelling trailer BBQ, and these two men were no exception.   They asked, “Where did you get this thing?” and “How much did it cost you?”  The two gentlemen, who were excited about playing (cooking) on this BBQ trailer, settled in with their aprons and spatula’s.  Then I received a call that required me to pick up my daughter from swimming.  The problem here was that I could not make it back to pick up the BBQ trailer, so I asked the two gentlemen if I could leave it with them for the night and pick it up in the morning?  To my astonishment, they replied with a, “You’re going to just leave this thing with us?”  I proceeded to explain the dilemma in my schedule, to which they responded, “People don’t trust each other like this anymore these days.”

Albeit a force play, I ended up leaving the trailer BBQ with my two new buddies.  Their comments intrigued me.  As a result, I have found other opportunities to trust my neighbours.

One recent story has to do with Christmas presents,( but I cannot say too much since my family reads this blog).  I found a lady in our neighbourhood who knows a thing or two about a product that she has started ordering for herself.  I went over to her place last week to see if she wanted to fill an “Operation Manna” shoe box for a child (see last months blog post) and ended up hearing a little about this product.  So I listened.  I actually did more than listen in the end.  I decided to apply the lesson learned from leaving the BBQ trailer at the block party last June.  Since I ended up ordering some of this product from her for Christmas, I gave her more than enough money…up front.  Handing the cash over communicated a trust that could not be put into words.

Now I am searching for a neighbour with whom I could build trust in other situations.  Perhaps there is a new neighbour in whom I can build trust by giving them the keys to our house when we are away this holiday season.

This is nothing new for those who have experienced an abundance of trust in their lives.  Building trust works, especially with those who have a great deal of experience with broken trust.  Building trust with neighbours is a prerequisite for loving them.  To trust a neighbour who is more familiar with broken trust is a gift.