Love Thy (fill in the blank) Neighbor.

I'm Joining in the 2nd Annual Keep Love in Lent Link-Up from  Catholic Bloggers Network  hosted by the following blogs:

  Equipping Catholic Families , Campfires and Cleats ,Truly Rich Mom  and A Slice of Smith Life 

Join and discover new ways to Keep Love in Lent.

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Love thy neighbor as thyself.  

We've all heard it before.  It's  in the Bible as one of the  greatest commandments.

"One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. "- Mark 12:28-31

But, dang!  It's just not that easy.

Some "neighbors" are easy  to love.   We can admit it.  We  love the folks who think and look like us.  We love the neighbor who waves  and says "Hi" each time  they see us in the yard.    We love the person at the grocery who smiles and greats us warmly.    We love those who worship the way we do and pray the way we do.    We love those in our inner circles. 

Some "neighbors"  are more difficult  love.    It might be the neighbor who gives you the evil eye because they think your child is a bad influence on their children.   The person on the other end of the phone who bemoans "It's not my department."   The  sour-faced and angry co-worker.  The  person on the corner holding a sign that says the world is ending  on a specified date.  The racist neighbor who is filled with hate.   The person who belittles your faith and/or your place of worship.

Some "neighbors"  are needing our love.  The hungry and scared child living in poverty.  The family facing foreclosure of their home.  The elderly neighbor who has no-one that visits her in the nursing home.  The list goes on and on.   The abused neighbor,   the sad and lonely neighbor, the lost and seeking neighbor, the uninsured neighbor, the worried neighbor...

I am sure you can  come up with a lot more  to add to this list.  In fact, I want to invite you to do just that for Lent this year.  Sit down  and write your own  Lenten Love  MY  "Neighbor" List.    If you have children, invite them to add to a family list  each week and make that list a part of your regular prayers this Lent.  I would venture to say that the little ones will have some of the most profound entries for your list.   No matter if it is a family list or your own personal list, keep this list with you all throughout Lent and add to it as the need arises.    Then our next step will be to find a way to be the love that neighbor needs.  Depending on the "neighbor," we will  show and be that love in different ways.   If we believe and offer ourselves fully and humbly, I firmly trust that the Lord  will present us with the opportunities to make love  an action that we birth into being. 
  
There is one last category of people that needs our love. The "neighbor" that we have classified as not deserving our love.  Those that have caused great physical or spiritual harm to  us or  to those we love.   Those that  have done  things that go beyond our human and moral understanding and  comprehension.   For there is an evil that seeps into  some of  God's children.  An evil that twists the human soul and  hides  the light of the Holy Spirit from a person  It is  an evil that  causes them to harm others in profound and deep ways.   That is the most challenging love we are called to give.

I just have to remember that authentic love doesn't pick apart or tear down others.  Authentic love  doesn't have to stop and be reminded  that all of us hurt and need others.  Love cares about the condition of the other  over self.   Love is unfailing,  undeserved and unconditional. 


This is not going to be easy. I have such a long way to go. 

Cyndi
by Cyndi Marlow

Love is patient,  love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8