2 months ago my partner Joan and I were walking on the beach, just after sunset. We noticed one of the largest electrical storms we have ever seen going on…..on the other side of the lake. It must have stretched from Hamilton through the east side of Buffalo. Rolling lightning, Jagged bolts from the clouds to the earth, the sky was lighting up almost to the beach we were walking on. It was magnificent.

Many times on that walk I said to myself, thank goodness that electrical storm is going on.. on.. the other side of the lake. I think it is a natural thing to consider.

Our self preservation instinct keeps us on our side of the lake, on our side of the argument, on our side of the ego. In Covid times, self preservation keeps on the other side of the street.

We fear others and the problems they can cause. This means we are often a little suspicious of our neighbor. We all know Neighbors can be a problem.

At the same time as we might be wary of our neighbors, we also understand the faith statement, “love thy neighbor’. It is a faith statement because there is no certainty. We hope loving our neighbor makes us feel safe, helps us work together and sets a stage for creativity and sharing. Loving thy neighbor, helps us build the beloved community. Nothing proves loving. It is the psychological “Turing Test”. Generosity relies on this faith in love, so does kindness and compassion. When we use these skills, it allows us to find common ground, inside ourselves as well as with others.

Sometimes we try to love our neighbor hoping we will be loved back. Of course “give and take” is business, not love. Measuring how much love we received from others, as the reason for how much we should give back, has never been love.
Maybe the easiest way to love our neighbor is to remember our foibles, and accept our foolishness. Then when we look at others and also see foolishness and foibles, we know they are almost...just like us.
This helps us open up to the ideas of Jesus, Rumi, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King. They said that loving others, including loving ourselves, was the way to change the world.

In our country, fraught with conflict and despair, loving our neighbor does not need to be dramatic. It can start in tiny doses, letting someone in traffic, holding a door, offering your place, saying hello and meaning it. You will know what to do.

If we want our Canada to be kind, to be a compassionate place to live for the next generation, the next 50 years, is there any other way than the tough…. spiritual….. practice…… of loving our neighbor?