love my neighbors? 180/366

Two men, teen and grandfather ages, were walking side by side down the alley behind my house last week. It made me smile they were spending time together until I heard the younger one impatiently, harshly, rudely scold the older man "c'mon, hurry up..." and from what I saw, he was hurrying as best he could. It made me sad. And mad.

A young man and two children ride bikes in front of my house almost every evening. I have never heard a cross or rude word out of any of them. Often I see them walking with a grandmother and the "tone" is the same. I do consistently witness encouragement and laughter and it makes my heart smile.

A young man and woman were walking together in the alley this evening and it made me wistful, until I heard the language and tone he was using as he spoke to her. It crushed my heart for her. I am thankful Bill treated me with respect. 

Relationships. 
Neighbors.
Friends.
Enemies.
Following Jesus.

I'm doing a lot of reading and thinking about how this all fits together.

I do not live in a traditional family/residential neighborhood. I own the third house on our block. Either direction. To the left of my home is a family business. The owners/employees and I have very casual, friendly relationships. I don't know the person who lives in the house on the corner, but I do know the owner and her son who lives in the apartment above the garage. I cleaned the house for her father-in-law in the early 90's. We have friendly chats when we see each other. The houses on my right are owned by the same families who lived in them when we moved into our home. We chat over the fence and help each other whenever we can. An alley with a 3 bay self car wash and a large metal building housing a small business runs behind our properties. 

The dogs often run and bark along the back privacy fence when anyone walks down the alley, especially when I am outside. Recently I started calling them to my side. I know they are only protecting me from what they perceive to be a potential threat. And I know dogs can be good judges of character. But I also know as a Jesus follower I can't allow Sam, Lady and Ivy to terrorize people. Tonight I was thankful I've taken that first step because I am wrestling with Jesus' command to love my neighbors. Not the ones I've known for 30+ years, though I could do a better job in those relationships, but this evening I realized the people who walk in the alley and rides bikes in front of the house are probably my neighbors too. At this point I don't know what loving these neighbors looks like, but I am pretty confident calling the dogs off is not enough. So I am hesitantly, cautiously commiting to begin praying for eyes to see opportunities to love these people. And to be honest, I am a little afraid of what it will do to my comfortable, safe lifestyle when I figure it out. Not so much the Grandma family, but the others that frequently walk behind my house.