Taking the Time to Make a Difference

Three couples, one baby in a stroller, two dogs on their leashes, a sidewalk conversation, a speeding car. It was a pleasant Saturday morning in our neighborhood -- except for the speeding car. And of course, the ice storm damage and the remnants of a water main break. The three couples who had gathered on the sidewalk had a lot to talk about – a lot of common concerns. The fast driver was a real, but momentary distraction. The impact of the ice storm was more lasting. “When did you get your power back?” “Did you stay home or did you stay with relatives or friends?” This gathering on the sidewalk took place on the first pleasant weekend after our local ice storm. Most of the homes in our neighborhood had been without electricity for about seven days. My wife and I were cleaning up the fallen limbs from a large Magnolia tree. Branches six to eight inches thick had given way, and were torn from the trunk, twisted, tangled in a heap in our yard and in our neighbor’s yard, too. As we sawed and stacked, bagged leaves and piled up large branches, two neighborhood couples stopped by. We admired the baby in the stroller and marveled at her good looks and peaceful demeanor. We petted the dogs and discussed the events of the day. We talked about how disappointing were the delays from the local utility company in responding to our needs – all the while acknowledging that other families were still suffering from the ice storm that had toppled small trees and large transmission lines. We talked about the water main break and the mud that remained. We wondered out loud about other neighbors, and how they had fared. And we wondered about what we could do to stop speeding drivers. The neighborhood encounter concluded, and we all returned to our tasks for the day.

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Although the encounter seemed so coincidental, that was not in fact the case. Our own fallen branch removal project was driven in part by the concern that branches from our tree were scattered over our neighbor’s lawn. The next-door-neighbors were obviously concerned about the mud that remained from the water main break in front of their house, but which continued down the street for quite a distance. Our connections with the two couples of our sidewalk conversation stem from several sources. Connections between and among two or more of us as couples include common parish membership, participation in our local neighborhood association, and companionship as families in the Christian Family Movement. Our morning conversation on the first nice Saturday after an ice storm was not the first encounter for us as neighbors.

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There is no deep theological or scriptural message to be drawn from this Saturday sidewalk encounter, only a practical and pleasant experience, and a reminder of the benefits of knowing “who is my neighbor?” These benefits of making connection with others are obvious, but worth emphasizing, in difficult times or on joyful occasions. No man is an island. No home in a neighborhood is occupied by an individual or a family that may be isolated or insulated from next-door happenings.

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If there are any lessons to be learned from this simple reflection, it is this: Don’t wait for an ice storm to get to know the people in your neighborhood or congregation. And another lesson is obvious, too: Take the time to stop work on a busy day to get to know each other better. A casual conversation on the sidewalk is worth more than branches fallen on the lawn or mud covering a street. I can’t find those words in our Scriptures, with perhaps one broad exception – something about loving one another as Jesus has loved us. Wouldn’t that make a difference!

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