Crossing the Road
(even when you can’t leave home)
Nancy pointed out something interesting about the good Samaritan. While the religious Jews walked down the other side of the road, the Samaritan crossed the road. Jesus said “He went to him” (Luke 10:34). Loving your neighbor means that sometimes you have to exit your path and cross the road, go out of your way. We should consciously set our paths to connect with our neighbors. But sometimes we need to leave our paths to connect with our neighbors.
Like you, recently my paths have radically changed. My current paths are limited to my house and Sam’s Club. A month ago I was playing music with other people one or two times a week. I could go out to dinner or lunch. I worked in a different building in a different township than I slept. I went to Wawa. Life was good. Life was varied.
In “the new normal”, it is easy to focus on how to get things done differently and forget about the people outside our wall that God has called us to love. I have spent a great deal of time putting together workspaces for my family so we can all do work and school efficiently and comfortably. I love setting stuff up. But, it can consume my time and thoughts.
This past Thursday, before we all went into lockdown, one of my bandmates had a stroke. On Sunday, the day before Abington Hospital closed its doors to visitors, I went in to see him. I was there for a couple of hours. It is now a week since he went to the hospital and he has been alone. I finally texted him today. Imagine being in a hospital for a week without having any visitors, not even your family.
We all have people God is calling us to love. We need to get creative. Right now we can’t physically be with them. Our paths don’t cross. So, how can we reach out to them? Technology is a great blessing. We can text, we can Facetime, we can Hangout (google), we can Skype and Zoom and Tweet… We can even use our phones to call them.
I would challenge you to pray for your neighbors. If you went to the Outreach Seminar you were challenged to pray with someone. Keep (or start) doing that. You can pray on the phone! As a part of that prayer, ask for ways to connect. Then connect. Maybe even make a schedule. We all need connections right now. So be the one to make it happen. Pray and cross that metaphorical road and God will meet you and your neighbors there.
Send your ideas on how to cross that metaphorical road to outreach@newlifeglenside.com and we will share them somehow.
Darryl Rearson,
