Neighbours connecting
2014 marked the inaugural year of Neighbourhood Life in
Central Alberta. This included the
neighbourhood life trailer BBQ that played host to over 15 neighbourhood block
parties that spurred on much needed connections. It seems that the old fashioned neighbourly
instincts have fallen to the wayside, much to the surprise of many. Loneliness was one symptom that surprised
those who lived a few houses down. And
just after someone told me that “it’s different in the smaller communities such
as Lacombe and Blackfalds,” we found two neighbours who have lived down the
road from each other for 18 years and
had never met. Perhaps the
remote operated garage door and the 60 inch HDTV have played a role in our
“unfriending” our neighbour without even noticing. Possibly, we have taken on the attitude: we
can afford to live without our neighbours, so why bother? The hard working family needs to get ahead,
therefor, the work week is longer (after all, “busy” is the status symbol), or
perhaps multiple jobs are required?
That’s the case with many I have met in the block parties that took
place in Blackfalds and Lacombe. It is
true for my family as well. But over the
past year, we have made attempts to connect with neighbours. The reason is simply for a richer community.
Each time I
am in discussion with neighbours, I find surprises that give way to the
statement, “I cannot believe that happened in our neighbourhood!” That can be negative or positive. Regardless, the evidence is clear that in
this day and age, neighbours have found their “Love your neighbour” wall
hanging something that used to be
part of their lifestyle.
Loving your
neighbour was God’s idea. Loving
neighbours make a healthy community, a place where love, joy, peace, kindness
and forgiveness reside. These are some
of the attributes that belong to the Kingdom of God. I have never met a neighbour in Lacombe or
Blackfalds that has been opposed to these attributes. The neighbourhoods where these are practiced
have been enriched. In fact, the statement,
“I cannot believe that happened” has redefined ‘miracle.’ For it is a miracle that the old grumpy guy
next door did that, or it is a
miracle that the busy neighbour took the time to do this. But for those of us
who continue to drive by our neighbours without even knowing their names, we
will never come to witness those miracles, let alone know the richness of what
Christ was talking about when he talked about community.
One thing to
keep in mind: Loving your neighbour is
not about who you like or do not like.
Love is a word that God invented that He initiated without
conditions! The problem that many of us
stumble across is that we will try this “loving your neighbour” thing and
discover that we do it with conditions.
Love (I Corinthians 13) is negated if it is connected to an
expectations. Just as a parent loves a
child, so God loves us. And this love is
without conditions. Mom just cannot stop
loving her children. God cannot stop
loving us. It has no conditions, and it
cannot be stopped. This is good reason
for us to propel ourselves to love those who maybe will never love us
back. But it is this love that we have
been freely given, so that we can also give it freely.
It is clear
to me that there are neighbours in every neighbourhood who have not had the Kingdom
of God (peace, joy, kindness, forgiveness, etc.) demonstrated to them
before. It is up to those of us who have
been loved; or, in other words, have been shown peace, joy, kindness,
forgiveness, etc. For those of us who know
what this is like, we are being called to engage in loving our neighbours.
Rick Abma
