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The Flavour of Jesus (4) - neighbour
by Richard L. Provencher JESUS gave his subjects a welcome tenet---love your neighbour as you love yourself. This is not just a fancy choice of words since it has a much deeper meaning. Without love and consideration for your neighbour, how can you deal effectively with life? Wars begin with this lack of effort and communities have been destroyed easily when getting along is missing. We gained much from a dear lady whom we first met, after moving into our seniors apartment building. Shortly after getting settled, I watched her stand on the sidewalk and slowly reach down and pluck a limb blown there by a recent windstorm. Then she moved down the sidewalk and did the same thing, in slow motion, after which she sauntered to the green bin and chucked the branches in. Thats how I exercise, her explanation. It was difficult moving into an apartment complex after living in our own detached homes for 23 consecutive years. But realistically, after my stroke, I could not maintain our premises and all its need for upkeep. Therefore, having contact with others around my age and needs required my wife and myself to slow down our pace of living. Our older neighbour, a former school teacher recently turned 94, and is now about to move into a nursing home. Yet she will leave behind her stories, her charm and zest for living one day at a time. Indeed, we have been blessed with the flavour of Jesus knowing a person of her stature. * * * Richard L. Provencher 2011 Richard enjoys writing poems; many of which have been published in Print and Online. He and his wife, Esther are also co-authors of stories and a print novel. They are "born again" Christians and very busy in their church, Abundant Life Victory International, in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |