The Next To Me Person

I am Your neighbour,

Of whom your scriptures teach,

The one you so often wont reach out to,
Although I am easily within reach,

And you ask,

Who is my neighbour?

All the migrants & refugees ,

The next to me person,

And the person next to these,

Trafficked people who reach out for help,
Those whose voices are silenced,

Not a whimper or yelp,

Someone who needs me.....

The next to me person,

You only live once,

And there's no rehearsin',

A neighbour is literally someone next to you,

Close in distance, akin in feeling,

Symmetrical in understanding,

So my neighbour is everyone....

Even the worst person in the world,

And the most demanding,

They are not my neighbours ,

They are my brothers and sisters,

Listen to me mister,

As the children of God,

We are family,

I am their brother,

I am their sister,

 

I am Your neighbour,

Of whom your scriptures teach,

The one you so often wont reach out to,
Although I am easily within reach,

Who then is my Neighbour? ,

The rich young man demanded,

To justify his lack of care,

To weasel out of being reprimanded,

Who “THEN”, is my Neighbour?
For, who 'Then' shall I serve?
For whom shall I labour?
For he who is worthy?

For they that deserve?

 

Tell me who!

who then is my neighbour?

Someone in need, anyone in need ,

Anyone less fortunate than me,

Drug-addicts, Junkies and those who smoke weed?

People who have been sanctioned,

Victims of greed?

Who Then is my neighbour?

People who surround us,

Homeless, refugees over here,

We may or may not like them,

Those we may distrust or fear?

They may be the person we envy,

But should be pleased for, congratulate,

When you stand their frozen, hateful,

And starting to stagnate,

 

I am Your neighbour,

Of whom your scriptures teach,

The one you so often wont reach out to
Although I am easily within reach,

My Neighbour is,

The next to me person,

This isn't a play,

 We are not rehearsin' ,

People who we interact with in every way,

The Atheists, the Muslims,

The straight and the gay,

The people who wind us up and irritate us,

People who have wronged us,

Day after day,

 

The next to me person,

This is not an act,

You are not rehearsin',

Good teacher,

Who is my Neighbour?

 

I am Your neighbour,

Of whom your scriptures teach,

The one you so often wont reach out to
Although I am easily within reach,

My neighbour is the one that's in need of my help, my care, my attention,

The one with the skin condition that we barely dare to mention,

My neighbour is the person next to me,

Without a smile on their face,

The one no-one sees,

The person too stubborn to ask for help,

When you can tell they are desperate for it,

The one who's hoping you will see,

And hoping too, you wont ignore it,

The person without a shoulder to cry on,

Or a friend to talk to,

The one with no-one to rely on,

The one who doesn't need your bible quotes,

Who wont hear the word,

But maybe just a hug,

When Love is the loudest sound you've heard,

Beyond the talk,

Beyond rehearsin',

The far off, far away, near to me,

Next to me person,

 

It is the person you do and do not see,

And in as much,

As you have done it unto these...

Every day family, friends, acquaintances or complete strangers,

All are neighbours to me,

 

So then,

In a Global village, is this something you could savour,

In our global age is the whole human race your neighbour?

 

In a day of technology and easy flights,

In a world that recalls in an instant, a web of horrific sights,

In a world of resources from an agency,

One woman stood in a kitchen , in Birmingham , cooking tea ,

May not be able to jump on a plane to comfort another,

Shivering-in-a-tunnel, escaping-a-war kind of mother,

But she can pray, for release of those who can, .

And She can stand with those who give a damn,

Neighbour cannot any longer be confined to people we meet,

They no longer reside only in the house, either side, along our street,

So many people are our neighbours,

But when I'm overwhelmed by the plight of ALL,

Of them, who I connect with through the media,

When my feet should be racing,
But my heart starts to stall,

I remember, somewhere, somehow,

That God has put me, where I am now,

And he gently reminds me

Not to overlook,

The "next to me person".

That this life is real,

And I'm not rehearsin',

That he is in heaven & here, and he sees us,

And in loving friends and enemies alike,

We are really loving Jesus.

I am Your neighbour,

Of whom your scriptures teach,

The one you reach out to,
 I am The One, who is within reach,