Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God and the next greatest is to love our neighbor. I’m sure I fail at this many times. Still, I can’t help wishing that more people knew how to be good neighbors and to truly consider the needs of others, especially in the area of health.
We know most of the people in our neighborhood and are on friendly terms with them. Unfortunately it’s their ignorance of environmental toxins that often cause problems for me. I wish I could enlighten them about the dangers of their chemical choices. So far I just continue to pray and watch for good opportunities.
Being Neighbors
Oh neighbors,
you are always friendly when we meet on the street,
you rarely have loud parties,
you keep your lawns well-trimmed,
yet you do not know what harms us most.
Oh neighbors,
why must you use fabric softener in your dryer that blows directly into my backyard?
why must you burn leaves and trash on a beautiful Saturday morning?
why must you spray for mosquitos in the dry season?
why must you paint cars and fill the air with epoxy?
Oh neighbors,
to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ requires a better knowledge,
to understand you are doing harm to yourselves, not just to others,
to change your toxic ways would help us both,
if only I could help you see.
To be a good neighbor is no easy thing.
Perhaps one day we’ll learn from each other,
what the other needs.
I’m learning how true it is that being a good neighbor is no easy thing. For those of us with EI, we wish more people understood about the negative effects of their chemical choices. We can keep praying and sharing as we have opportunity. In the meantime, perhaps we can evaluate what area we might improve in to be good neighbors to those around us.
P.S. Here’s an excellent blog post by my friend Martha about why we should care about chemicals as part of being good neighbors to others.
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