Love my neighbor? I Can Barely Put One Foot in Front of the Other

I sent a text the other day to one of my friends.  With the shut down of school (and society for a while) I have lost touch with so many of my friends, especially those associated with my work or my kids’ school.  I asked her how she was intending to see how she was dealing with all of the #COVID-related issues, but the response I got was nothing of the sort.  Two of her family members living in Africa had just passed away for unmentioned reasons.  In addition, she had lost a total of 8 family members there so far this year, 4 in a car accident.  As I was processing this information, I realized how selfish I’ve become in the last few months. 

I have been so bothered by the disruptions to my life in the last few months that I have forgotten, forgotten that life is going on and others are suffering.  Yes, some are suffering from COVID, injustice, fear of the rise in violence in our country, but they are also suffering personally from circumstances, loneliness and anxiety, many from a source they can’t identify.  Just because I can’t do what I’m used to like teaching, traveling, planning-well- anything at all, doesn’t mean I can forget the basics.  The question the Pharisees asked Jesus in Matthew is the same questions we all have right now. Mainly, “God, what do you want me to do now?  Now that my world has been turned upside down?”  The answer he gave them is the same answer he gives us now.  The greatest commandment is still “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 37-39). 

Both of these commandment are “other” focused.  Neither one asks me to look at myself, only upward and outward.  And I’ve been so focused on myself and my desire to return to “normal life”-which I may never see again-that I have failed.  Failed to realize that God is not in shock and dismay as I am.  In fact, not only is he perfectly aware of everything that is happening, but his plan has never changed once.  Despite the discomfort I feel, his passion towards drawing people to himself is the same.  And just because I am self-centered doesn’t mean there aren’t those who need my help or friendship even more during this time.

During the last election, my friend posted a meme that stated, “Turn off your TV and love your neighbor.”  I do not watch the news much, I am definitely more focused on the chaos around me that the one who hold my future in my hand.  Praying I can “turn it off” whether physically or emotionally and remember that not only does God’s perfect plan prevail, but he wants me to be a part of it.