{"id":2630,"date":"2021-05-05T23:03:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T23:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/?p=2630"},"modified":"2021-05-05T23:04:10","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T23:04:10","slug":"becoming-more-neighborly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/05\/becoming-more-neighborly\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming More Neighborly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the Pastor’s Heart OP-ED\u00a0 BY\u00a0 DR.\u00a0 ROBERT\u00a0 KENNEDY\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some incidents in life are so dynamic that they will be hard to erase from memory and must be reflected on for a long time. One such incident I reference is George Floyd\u2019s death and the testimonies at the trial that led to Chauvin\u2019s guilty verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is believed, the testimony of the four youngsters, but especially that of Darnella Frazier, who was 17 years old when she filmed the video of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd\u2019s neck for nine minutes and twenty-six seconds, was most decisive in the trial. The video went viral and prompted the tidal wave of public outrage across the world. But at the trial, when Frazier testified, she sobbed as she recited her regrets for not physically intervening to help Floyd. She said she felt very responsible for his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the testimony of Darnella Frazier and others who took action and testified as eyewitnesses, secured the guilty verdict of Chauvin will be repeated many days to come. As is being noted, their testimony is unique because multiple other persons across America are being beaten up and murdered at the hands of persons like Chauvin and are not being convicted. In many cases, we are told that there are witnesses who could make a difference, but they are complicit with what is taking place and therefore refuse to tell what they have seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a good reason that Luke records the interaction between Jesus and the young lawyer. It is an interesting read, and I invite you to read it as recorded in Luke 16:25-34: \u201cTeacher,\u201d he [the young layer] asked, \u201cwhat must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d \u201cWhat is written in the Law?\u201d he [Jesus] replied. \u201cHow do you read it?\u201d He [the young lawyer] answered, \u201c\u2018Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind\u2019; and, \u2018Love your neighbor as yourself.\u2019 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this, and you will live.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he [the young lawyer] wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, \u201cAnd who is my neighbor?\u201d In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. \u2018Look after him,\u2019 he said, \u2018and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.\u2019 \u201cWhich of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expert in the law replied, \u201cThe one who had mercy on him.\u201d Jesus told him, \u201cGo and do likewise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is not an \u201cAllegory,\u201d as Augustine and other commentators might have thought. It is for real. It happened then and is happening now. Many persons are being beaten up and left for dead like the man on the Jericho Road was, and as George Floyd was, and few persons are willing to act as neighbors and intervene. Again, thank God for Darnella Frazier and others in George Floyd’s story and those in other stories we are not naming in this reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is a fact of interest that while most people are showing outrage as their immediate response to many tragedies, as shown on TV, their outrage is not sustained, nor is it carried to other individuals who are being left for dead. Or let us say that too many individuals are only willing to \u201csave their own skins\u201d or preserve themselves, than risk anything to make sure that they offer the help needed to transform the conditions of those suffering in their presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me ask, as the George Floyd bill sits in the congress, how many of us are truly concerned about it to make those who are resisting it be sensitized to it? How many are aware that the bill is not just about George Floyd but about the multitude of other persons who are being beaten up and murdered each year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, I am not just concerned about the public policy changes that can be made but also about our individual and personal responsibilities, namely, in our attitude displayed to those about us. Let us think of the many other persons suffering from other oppressive conditions and ask ourselves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 What are we doing to help heal a wound?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 How are we help to bind a broken heart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 How are we seeking to uplift a mind, encourage a soul, and find peace and rest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darnella Frazier\u2019s actions and that of the other individuals in the George Floyd and Derek Chauvin’s case might seem distant from the story of the Good Samaritan. But each story must challenge us about our individual and corporate responsibilities to our neighbors. We must not give a blind eye to the plight of the disenfranchised as we see them being beaten up and murdered. We must lend a helping hand in rescuing those who need our help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Pastor’s Heart OP-ED\u00a0 BY\u00a0 DR.\u00a0 ROBERT\u00a0 KENNEDY\u00a0 Some incidents in life are so dynamic that they will be hard to erase from memory and must be reflected on for a long time. One such incident I reference is George Floyd\u2019s death and the testimonies at the trial that led to Chauvin\u2019s guilty verdict. 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