I came back from vacation to a dead phone line and intermittent internet service, so I am writing this post as quickly as possible in hopes of posting it before my internet goes down again.
The Five Minute Friday prompt this week is NEIGHBOR.
Of course, I'm Canadian, so I don't spell it that way; I spell it NEIGHBOUR. That's just asking for a play on words, isn't it. Maybe something like "Being a good NEIGHBOUR is something only U can do!"
I know all about good neighbours. In our "little house on the circle," we're surrounded by neighbours who care for and look out for each other.
It's tempting to confine the word "neighbour" to the people who live close to us -- people we see every day. But the word is meant to be bigger than that. When Jesus was asked "Who is my neighbour?" he didn't say, "The people who live on your block" or "Those within a 1-kilometre radius of your home."
Instead, he told a story about a man who helped a stranger in need, when those who should have helped turned their backs.
"U" are my neighbour, and I am yours. When we have compassion for one another, we show that we are all connected. We are all neighbours.
Yes, you are so right, Jeannie!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for coming by to read and comment, Beth. Have a great weekend.
DeleteI love the Canadian spelling of neighbor. I think there's another play on words you could have. It's almost like with the American spelling, you have the choice to be a neighbor because of "or" at the end. But with the Canadian spelling, "our" says, welcome! Join us! You are included! We can share this space together!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why that comes into my head, but I like it. I like it a lot. :) I'm so glad we're neighbours on fmf today.
Julia
That is just perfect, Julia! Thanks! I appreciate your reading with such insight and creativity. I'm glad we are neighbo(u)rs too.
DeleteI'm in the UK and we spell it with a u too! I didn't realise until today that was the same as Canada. I couldn't resist the play on words.
ReplyDeleteYes, in Canada we use many of the British spellings, with some exceptions: e.g. we would write "realize" instead of "realise." Thanks for reading and commenting, Lesley - have a good weekend!
DeleteWe ARE all neighbors! Yep, I'm American.... Maybe we should have name tags that say, "Hello! I'm your neighbor (fill in the blank)." I think about that when I wonder whose mansion will be next to mine in Heaven!
ReplyDeleteI love the play on words, too!
I'm your neighbor at FMF #46.
Thanks for stopping by to read and comment, Vicki. That's a neat idea about our mansions in heaven!
DeleteIndeed we are all neighbors. I'm over in the 51 spot.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you here, Tara!
DeleteU are a good neighbour, Jeannie, even if I end uup writing words on youur posts that contain muultiple uus.
ReplyDeleteThank u, Tim! U might enjoy this little tribute to u that we just discovered on, uh, u tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dwm7-aSpxs
DeleteAmen, Jeannie! We are all neighbours. :) When I saw a Turkish believer post on Instagram her condolences to Houston, it made me think about these same thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThat is so nice, Betsy. One of the advantages of social media, I suppose, is that we see other people up-close who are not our geographical neighbours but who are struggling, and they feel closer to us. That's the ideal, I guess; the downside is that we can become inundated with images and get numb to it.
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