One of my fond memories of my mom is when she would sing, Getting to Know You, from The King and I. As an introvert, it gave me a sense of the positive possibilities when I am friendly and reach out to people. It’s one way to learn to love our neighbors as The Good Book directs us to.
However, it’s easier said than done, isn’t it? We’ve been taught to be reserved, keep to ourselves, and even be a little suspicious of our neighbors. That tension inspired me to write and draw this cartoon.
Keeping a Watch in the Neighborhood
There is a lot of fear out there of our neighbors. It’s a low-level fear for most neighborhoods. In other neighborhoods, there may be legitimate fear because of crime rates and past experiences.
At the same time, there appears to be a lot of loneliness. What would happen if we began reaching out again? Maybe we would find we have much more in common than we thought.
Recently, my church has been running a sermon series on The Art of Neighboring. It is based on the same book by that name. The concept has challenged me to reconsider what it means to be a good neighbor. How did we get to the point that we believed the best way to be a good neighbor is to be invisible?
Instead of staying in the shadows and wondering what our neighbors are like, perhaps we need to get out there, introduce ourselves, and find out what we have in common. Perhaps you find out both of you like to watch The King and I, or maybe Doctor Strange. Now there’s two different movie concepts!
So maybe it’s time to show some courage, hum the chorus from Getting to Know You, and go meet our neighbors!
I drew this for Kidzmatter Magazine.
Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.
