Germantown Church of The Brethren

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR; LET THY NEIGHBOR LOVE YOU

Today, I was in a hurry. As I was leaving my house, I saw a bus coming, I
started running toward the corner. I tripped on the uneven pavement and
down I went. The bus pulled off BUT the REAL kicker came when the man
who got off the bus STEPPED OVER ME to walk down the street!

Society has told us that in this day and age it is okay NOT TO CARE about
your fellowman. Yet, the Bible tells us to do unto others as we would have
them do unto us.

Unfortunately, there are those of us who really would insist that we LEAVE
THEM ALONE even in a situation where they NEEDED help and they have
a host of reasons why:

a)They don’t want to APPEAR weak and prefer to act like they can handle
EVERYTHING themselves
b) They DON’T ACCEPT CHARITY and think that an act of kindness is
out of pity
c) They don’t want to BE BEHOLDING; if you do something nice for
them, they think they OWE YOU SOMETHING
d) They simply CANNOT HANDLE anyone doing anything nice for
them because they do not believe they are worth it
THEN THERE IS ANOTHER REASON:
They do not want help from anyone WHO DOESN’T look like them, act like
them, worship like them, have roots in the same place they do OR have
skin that is the same color as theirs.

Which brings me back to questions I’ve asked before:

If your car won’t start in the pouring rain, do you care who is offering to give
your battery a jump? OR

If your house is burning, do you care about the color of the firefighter
holding the water-hose?

Like it or not, WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPER and, on the flipside,
OUR BROTHER (OR SISTER) IS OURS. “JUST KEEPING IT REAL”
In the Spirit of Truth,
RuNett Nia Ebo, Poet of Purpose