Letter to the Parish

Love my "neighbour"!!!!

Last month's letter, you may remember, was about "service". Over the weekend of the 10-12 June the nation celebrated the life and service of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. In the village the Primary School put on an afternoon tea on the Green; the Players (+ others that they roped in!) performed in a Revue in the Village Hall; thank you to everyone involved in making those events happen. And then on the Sunday afternoon we held a special service in St George's, with the church be-decked in bunting; thank you to those who came along and were part of that celebration service.

The theme of that service was: "Service"! The reading, one known to hold much significance to Her Majesty, was the story of the Good Samaritan: about the service of one person to another.

Two interesting things came out of that story this time. Firstly, the help and care offered was to a complete stranger. Secondly, if someone is in need of help - help them ... it could be you in need of help the next time!

A really difficult part of Christian teaching is the bit about, "Loving my neighbour as myself"; there may be times when you might sit there thinking, I don't even like my neighbour (don't worry Aurea, Robin and Jane: this doesn't apply from us to you!) - now you tell me I have to love them! But this Good Samaritan story shows us that "my neighbour" is not just the person who lives next door; the challenge is even bigger than that! "Our neighbour" is our fellow humanbeings; all people. Those in our community, those outside it; those whom we know, the one who is a stranger; those who are like us, those who are different.

And what about this "love" bit? "I can't do that", you're thinking! How about changing that to simply: treat other people as you would like to be treated? Maybe that is easier to think about doing than thinking I've got to love everyone?! You know you don't want to be spoken of badly, or lies told about you; you don't want to be robbed, swindled or defrauded out of money; you don't want your property damaged or stolen; you don't want to be belittled, laughed at or humiliated ... so don't you do it to other people! Then it becomes a very straight-forward, simple, life-giving instruction.

As I said at the end of the celebration service, "How do we live life?" By living a life that serves and cares for other people; that respects other people the same as we wish to be respected.

"Love your neighbour as yourself" sounds really hard; but - treat everyone as you wish to be treated ... our community will be a better place for it. Go on, try it. Then come and tell me if it's right or not!

Revd. David Commander
Rector

Benefice of Benenden and Sandhurst

T: 01580 240658 E: david@dc-uk.co.uk