I loved the parables of Jesus when I was a little kid. Whether it was the nuns sharing with us or curled up with the glossy covered kid’s books reading on our own time.
My husband also heard parables or stories when he was a child but they were not about Jesus. They were about the Prophet Mohammad.
Same appeal.
He loved the childhood stories just as much as I did.
There was one he told me that I enjoyed.
The moral of the story, in my husband’s telling, is very important.
Each day a Jewish neighbor deposited trash on Mohammad’s doorstep. And every day Mohammad would pick it up and bring it to the dump.
Every single day.
Then one day Mohammad found that there was no trash on his doorstep.
Wait. What?
No trash?
Should be a good thing.
But it was unusual for this neighbor not to leave trash on the doorstep.
Mohammad went to check on the neighbor and found that he was ill.
This is a very important story. Religion, in my opinion, doesn’t have anything to do with it. That was just my jumping point. This is about the human connection.
Everyone in the neighborhood where I grew up knew everyone else’s business.
Knew when people pulled up their shades in the morning. The school and work schedules. Meal times. When someone had company. Which Mass families attended. When vacations took place. And when the shades went down at night. Usually after the late news or a bit of The Late Show.
People know these things without realizing. It was just the usual daily routine.
When one of those things didn’t happen, according to the norm, it was a cause for concern. Something just wasn’t right. People checked on each other.
We all live in different neighborhoods and types of communities. Everyone has neighbors. I always say that one doesn’t need to be best friends with their neighbors (that’s a bonus) but we should care about each other.
Each person has a role in building up a strong community. Knowing your neighbors and caring about them can be the very first step.
Just Being Mary 