“Loving your neighbor is easy when he’s nice or when she’s the same as you. But the rule is ‘Love Thy Neighbor’…Even if he is different. Even if she is a bit mean. Even if they don’t believe in the same things you do. You don’t have to hang out with thy neighbor or agree with thy neighbor, just love them. Treat them with as much respect and acceptance as you’d like them to treat you.” (Doe Zantamata)
I have a neighbor living next to me now, who has never trusted me from the start, always believing I have some hidden agenda, some angle, as to why I’ve done the things I have in our neighborhood, including me meticulously maintaining their front yard for a number of years when no one else regularly was. For years their father was ailing and couldn’t get out and do any yard work and the only other occupant of the house was a son who never seemed to do much to help out with anything. The grass in their front yard often went uncut and unkempt for weeks at a time because of it. I found compassion for the situation, so one day I decided I was just going to help out by beginning to maintain it for the ailing father. Their yard really needed a lot of TLC, as it was mostly weeds and wild violets. I began diligently working with it, slowly restoring it to its glory, simply because I wanted to do something nice for someone else who wasn’t able to do it for themselves. I didn’t want or ask for anything in return and just desired to create joy for another. When their father unfortunately passed away about a year ago, the son was removed from the home and another sibling moved in, the one who hasn’t trusted my motives from the start. They immediately informed me early this spring my yard services were no longer needed, of which I said I understood. So, I spent this cutting season only doing a few strips to the left of my fence bordering their yard, as I learned fences are never placed on property lines due to it often creating legal battles when they are. Fences are typically placed because of this, back at least 2 inches, to a foot and a half from property lines. My neighbor never said anything to me about those few strips I cut each time, that is until just a few weeks ago.
They had put some grass seed down in a few areas, some of which was within my normal cutting area. They had also placed a small movable fence surrounding those areas, which I carefully mowed and edged around one day. Having been in the landscaping world for a long time, I wasn’t about to damage any of my former or their present hard work. Sadly though, my actions that day triggered a very loud and expletive response from them that essentially was no more than “Stay the f$$k off my yard!!!” When I tried to talk with them in a calm manner, explaining that I was only trying to maintain a part of our property still, their rage grew only worse, with many of our surrounding neighbors hearing their angry rant at me. A rant that continued well into that night and even the next day with whomever they spoke to, as I unfortunately caught part of it each time I walked outside to do some of my normal chores. Frankly, it hurt immensely, leading me to cry profusely over it. That principle of “Love Thy Neighbor” felt like it had meant nothing to them whatsoever in those moments, even given all the hard work I had done for them with having never once asked for anything in return. My ego initially wanted to retaliate with negative words, but my Spirit had me pause, reflect, and pray over the situation and for them. In the process, I realized that loving one’s neighbor doesn’t always mean that the love given out will be returned in kind. Sometimes it actually means getting nothing in return, other than the sole satisfaction that comes from being a loving steward in this world for God. While my neighbor may never understand this or grasp that I have no other motive than to serve God, I plan to continue loving them, albeit from a greater distance now, but loving them nonetheless, because loving thy neighbor isn’t about doing something with the expectation of it coming back in kind, it’s about doing it no matter what, knowing it’s how I’d want to be treated, and how God would want me to treat others as well.
God, I pray you may help me to always love thy neighbor, even when thy neighbor may never love me in return.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
