Love Your Neighbor

What does it mean to love my neighbor? I was having a conversation with my friend Robye in NYC on Sunday morning and I realized that my concept of this has changed. I used to think of loving my neighbor in terms of what I can do for them. Lately I have thought about it more in terms of being excited about my neighbor or being fond of them. I never thought that I could love my neighbor the way I love a woman, my nephew, or even baseball, but I think that's what is beginning to happen. Can I be "in love" with my neighbors? I don't know. I kind of like the idea of love for my neighbor becoming more about a feeling. I would rather feel love for my neighbor and do nothing to help them than to be really helpful out of Christian duty and yet quietly hate or, more likely, look down upon my neighbor. I want to be proud of my neighbor, root for them, celebrate their successes, mourn their losses, and simply fall in love with them for who they are. I don't really want to help them, I just want to love them.

Am I turning into some kind of Hippie???