Who is our neighbor?  That’s the question:

Who is this person we’re to love?

The one across the street?  Or next door?

Or in the apartment up above?

Just tell us how to know our neighbor,

And him or her we’ll love as best we can.

Don’t think we’re persons without feelings,

With no regard for our fellow man.

We do recall a certain story:

A man’s been mugged and badly hurt.

He’s in a ditch where others see him

But leave him there lying in the dirt.

Then comes a foreigner who helps him,

Someone who has no business being here,

Yet will not leave the man uncared for.

But who’s our neighbor?  It’s still not clear.

Who, of the passers-by, proved neighbor

To him who couldn’t even move?

That is a question we can answer –

The one who cared for him with love.

So, anyone might be our neighbor

If we will stop and take the time to heed,

With understanding and compassion,

Their circumstances and, then, their need.

Copyright 2013 by William Flanders

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