Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

In our twenty-first-century world, e-mail, social media, and 24-hour news sources connect us in ways unimaginable to previous generations. Our technologies and online lives bring us seemingly closer to one another than ever before possible. On the other hand, our hyperconnected digital lives often separate us from our physically closest neighbors and deepen labels of “us” and “them.” These categories are often purely imaginary; sometimes, however, they highlight deep differences between us. This week’s readings will help us navigate both our real and fabricated differences as we learn the answer scripture gives to the question posed to Jesus long ago: “Who is my neighbor?”
The book of Proverbs helps us tease out the difference between illusion and reality, between what appears to be true and what is true. Today’s readings hold to the light a common pair of labels—rich and poor—and show them to be an illusion in measuring our worth to God.
As humans, we often fall for the illusion that a person’s life or worth is found in the things he or she possesses. We see those with great wealth as “important” in society because of the influence and power their wealth seems to bring, while we overlook or completely ignore persons without power and money. But today’s readings make the point clearly: Whether we have or lack wealth, we are all created as children of God. We share common human experiences: our need for love and care, our knowledge of what it is like to be frightened or lonely, our ability to feel both despair and joy. At the end of the day, whether we lay our heads on silk pillowcases or a canvas bag on a curbside, God loves and values each of us. We are truly alike.