I was pulling out of my driveway, and realized I had gotten in so quickly and started to move that I didn't have my seatbelt on. Stretching over to put it on, with one eye on the snowy landscape in my neighbor's yard behind me, I clicked my belt into place.
[CRUNCH-CRUNCHY-TA-CRUNCH]
I hit the brakes. I knew that sound. Hopping out, I noticed a small white car that blended in with the snow that my quick glance in the mirror hadn't identified. Apparently, I'd hit it. Pulling out and putting my car on the side, I looked and saw a small dent. Now it was time to own it with my neighbor, or likely a guest at his house (since I didn't recognize the vehicle).
Long story short, it was my neighbor's brother's car. And he was so, so incredibly gracious about it all. He said that the ding on the door wasn't a big deal and he told me not to worry about it.
Wow.
Meanwhile, my bumper has a larger story to tell.
But... I also think there was another larger story at play.
My neighbor and I have built a good friendship over the past year. We've swapped garage codes to do each other favors, and have had some good heart-to-heart, life-on-life chats. I met his in-laws recently, and they said they'd heard good things about my family and me.
I know we live in a world where the sassy attitude is that we just do whatever we want, and "as long as it makes you happy" that "it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks."
I'd argue that how we live does affect others, and relational health is more often about selfless moments than self-centered justification.
I wonder if I'd been an ornery neighbor over the past year if that would have been my reputation, and if that reputation would have informed what happened today. Maybe not - I'd argue that my neighbor's brother is a pretty decent guy even just based on how he handled this situation.
One reason why it *does* matter what people think?
Because they're people, and they deserve the same positive care - be it up close or from afar - that you'd hope for you or your loved ones.
Sure, maybe once in a while you'll feel the benefit of it. But more often? You'll be a benefit to someone else... and I think that alone is worth it.
That's one for the top 10 list:
7. I don't regret loving my neighbor, even if it meant crossing invisible social lines I was supposed to pretend meant we couldn't be friends.
There are some great tips on how to be a neighbor online. I personally like this wisdom:
"Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." (Romans 15:2)
Or as a man named John Wesley said:
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Crashes happen.
The question is... what are you building?
