Neighbor: A Verb

The word "neighbor" is probably most often thought of as a noun: someone who lives near you. Some people might even make a reference to Luke 10 and the familiar story of the good Samaritan, saying a neighbor is one who shows mercy and love to others.

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." (Luke 10:36-37)

One of the neatest things that has come out of my experience in Mission Year so far is the experience of neighbor as a verb rather than a noun. Every Saturday, my housemates and I engage in neighboring. We reflect often on how we can individually and collectively be good neighbors. Neighboring is something that Mission Year is passionate about, because it is something that we feel Jesus was passionate about.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40)

Not only in word, but especially in action, Jesus lived His life on this earth as an excellent neighbor. Jesus taught people how to boldly, honestly, and radically neighbor others.

It is exciting for me to reflect on the past five months of my life and to see how I have grown in my understanding and experience of what it means to be a neighbor. When I first arrived in Houston and began this journey of my Mission Year, I didn't think much about neighboring. I knew that being a good neighbor was an important value of Mission Year, but I don't think I realized just what kind of impact that would have on me. Over the past several months I have seen and felt the weight and beauty of being a neighbor. The first several weeks and months consisted of awkward Saturdays when we would often just wander up and down streets, hoping to meet people who were hanging out outside. This worked sometimes, but there were a lot of weeks when we would wonder, "What good is this actually doing?" We baked cookies and cupcakes, played with kids, made music outside, but we got a lot of stares and questions in return.

Over time, we met people. Some relationships began forming more quickly than others. As more time passed, these relationships turned into friendships. Perhaps this is what I didn't expect, didn't hope for. I imagined coming to Houston, to the Greater Third Ward, and I expected serving and loving people and then leaving. I knew I would be changed, but I couldn't have known exactly how. I don't think it ever really crossed my mind that my neighbors would become my friends. I don't think I realized the depth that I would care for my neighbors. And I certainly didn't expect the depth that they would care for me in return. I have discovered that neighboring means caring deeply for people and treating people the way you wish other people treated you. I am realizing that some of my neighbors are actually teaching me more about neighboring through the way they love and offer tremendous hospitality and generosity.

I started writing all of this so that I could tell you about this past Saturday, which was one of the funnest nights I have had here so far. We recently found out about a weekly jam session that is hosted at a local coffee shop. We had heard that musicians, poets, and others joined together every Saturday night at 6:30 to create together in an open environment. One of our neighbor friends is an incredibly talented poet, and several of my housemates are talented musicians, so we were eager to spend an evening there. Saturday afternoon, Patricia (said poet/neighbor/friend) came over to make some banana bread and banana chips with Abigail and Carole. Shortly after that, our other neighbor Drejoin came over and brought some fun board games. While several people were in the kitchen, the rest of us played games in the living room. We invited Patricia and Drejoin to stay for dinner, and while we were preparing that, Drejoin's friend Anna came over and started helping as well. We had never met Anna before, but she fit right in with our group. After only being in our house for a while she said, "There's a really cool vibe here."

After finishing dinner and dishes, we headed for the bus stop so we could get to the coffee shop on time. Due to our curfew, we weren't able to stay at the jam session as long as we would have liked, but we had so much fun while we were there and even while we were in transit. We were taking pictures, sharing songs and poetry, and laughing up a storm. We even broke out in song and dance to the Cupid Shuffle while waiting for our bus at the end of the night. It was a goofy, creative, carefree evening, and I wish I could experience that every week. It felt like we had all been friends for much more than a few months (or a few hours). When we got back to our neighborhood, we all hugged and expressed how much fun we had together. We were sad to part ways, and we looked forward to having more nights like that in the near future.

Neighboring. Loving others deeply. Experiencing life with one another. Aspiring to be more like Jesus.

Please consider supporting me in my neighboring this year. This month you can donate $50 to receive this sweet shirt that encourages loving your neighbor. For $65 you can receive the <3 God <3 People shirt. Or for $100 you can receive both!

Click here to donate!