I think most people can recall having heard the biblical saying, love thy neighbor, at least once in their lifetime even if you don’t necessarily associate with the Christan religion, or any religion for that matter at all.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is a command that can be found in Leviticus 19:18 in the Old Testament. Growing up Roman Catholic, I have heard this core ethical principle just as frequently as I had heard the Pledge of Allegiance all throughout grade school. I knew what it was saying, I knew what it meant, however, I never really stopped to contemplate why there might be such a high importance placed upon the idea of loving another person, especially one whom may be a stranger.
I think I personally found it quite easy growing up to agree with this principle in theory but putting it into practice I believe can be much more challenging than we may realize. Quite recently I went out of state to visit some friends. The weekend I had, at the absolute least, was quite difficult and I was on my way back to New York with 12 hours left on my GPS and a thousand different emotions and jumbled thoughts all racing through my head at once as I tried to recollect myself outside of my car at this old gas station just off the side of a random highway in North Carolina. I heard a voice from behind me say excuse me, ma’am? I took a deep breath in before turning around to face him, not that I was necessarily annoyed with him, but because I was exhausted with a long trip ahead of me and a mess that I was having to leave behind me. When I turned around to face him, I was met with a man who looked to be homeless with a beer can in hand, a few missing teeth, and dirty clothes. He had asked me if he could ask me a question to which I replied with, “of course you can, are you okay? are you hurt? do you need any money or help?” He looked at me stunned as if I had just said the most ludicrous thing imaginable, and then he proceeded to ask me if I believed in God. I nodded my head and told him that I very much so do. We had about a five-to-ten-minute conversation, if I had to guess, on why I believe in God and how I speak to him when I feel lost. And then for about ten to fifteen minutes following that conversation he proceeded to confide in me on what he believes has gone wrong in his life and I began to cry for him. I truly could not even fathom having to experience what he had told me, and it left me completely speechless. I didn’t know what I could possibly even say to this man in front of me, so I gave him a hug. Whenever I’m sad and need someone to talk to, I don’t necessarily need them to say anything, sometimes I just need someone to hug me and tell me it will be okay. So that is what I did for him. Just as we were finishing up talking and I was about to get back into my car, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and had told me that I was the most genuine and kind human being he had ever met in his life, and as I got in my car to continue my drive, I watched him get down on his hands and knees right at the sidewalk and begin to pray.
Now, I must admit that this man, solely based off his appearance alone, seemed like someone that many people might instinctively avoid or feel uncomfortable being approached by. Yet this interaction made me think so incredibly deep about how we often let our first impressions of someone dictate how we treat them. I think more often than not, we associate kindness with people who make us feel comfortable and who appear as visually pleasing to us, even if this is not necessarily done intentionally, but the idea of loving thy neighbor asks us to extend that same kindness to people we might otherwise overlook, judge, or outright avoid. This small and simple interaction made me realize that loving your neighbor means to be willing to extend genuine kindness and compassion to everyone we encounter, even those whom society may be quick to judge or dismiss, because every person deserves to feel seen, valued, and treated with dignity.