My Neighbor - Dec. 20

In a world divided by national, religious, political, and racial hatreds, take a few minutes to review Jesus' answer to the question, "Who is my neighbor?"

Today I read:

Luke 10:29-37

29 But he, willing to ^ajustify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my ^bneighbour?

30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and^awounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

33 But a certain ^aSamaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had ^bcompassion on him,

34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took ^acare of him.

35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the ^ahost, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?

37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.

And this poem:

Old Gentleman Gray

Said old gentleman Gray, "On Christmas day,
If you want to be happy, give something away."
So he sent a fat turkey to shoemaker Price,
And the shoemaker said, "What a bird, now how nice;
with such a good dinner set before me,
I'll send my chicken to poor widow Lee.
"This fine chicken, oh see!"
Said the pleased widow Lee,
"And the kindness that sent it, how precious to me.
I would like to make someone as happy as I,
I'll send washwoman Biddy, my big pumpkin pie."
And "Surely," Biddy said, " 'tis the queen of all pies,
Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes.
Now it's my turn, I think, and a sweet sugar cake
For the motherless Finnegan children I'll bake."
Said the Finnegan children, Rose, Denny and Hugh
"It smells sweet of spice, and we'll carry a slice
To poor little lame Jake who has nothing that's nice."
Oh, I thank you and and thank you!" said little lame Jake
"I'll save all the crumbs, I won't waste a one
And give them to the little sparrows that come."
The sparrows they twittered as if they would say,
Like old gentleman Gray, "on a great Christmas day,
If you want to be happy, give something away."

Ideas for today-

*Do a good deed anonymously

* Volunteer your time with a positive attitude

*Share your bounty with others

*Give a gift to your neighbors - a service, a treat, a gift, your time.

*Record your family's services for other &/or services others have rendered for you.

The song for today is "Because I Have Been Given Much" which I can't link because of copyright but I would like to share the first line.

Because I have been given much

I too must share.

Because of thy great bounty, Lord

each day I live.

I shall divide my gifts from thee

with every brother that I see

who has the need of help

from me.

This song was one of my mom's favorite songs and was played at her funeral. When I sing this song, I always see her loading up someone's car with produce from our garden, or her sewing a special Christmas gift at 3:00a.m. or figuring out how to meet someone else's need. Even at the end of her life, when it became apparent that she wouldn't sew much anymore, she choose to give away almost a 100 apple boxes of material "because the sisters would be able to use it" rather than sell it. She taught me the difference between real service and token service. Second only to the gospel, the greatest gift she gave me was her example of serving others. I love my mom.