Loving Your Neighbor During The Pandemic

Hi,

My name is Joseph.

Our world today is going through unprecedented challenges.

Many have lost loved ones.

Many have lost their jobs.

We've been all affected by this chaos that's going on right now.

And we tend to all have the tendency to focus on ourselves and how bad our situation is.

And yes,

Indeed,

It is really bad.

I'm not discounting that.

But this morning,

I want to encourage you.

That in spite of whatever you may be going through,

The answer is not always in focusing on yourself.

If you focus too much on yourself,

You're going to get miserable.

Because all you see is your problems,

Your challenges,

And how things are really bad.

But today,

I want to encourage you that start focusing on others.

Who are the others?

Well,

I'm talking about your neighbors.

I don't believe that we are surrounded by all these people for no reason other than just being surrounded by them.

There's a good reason.

A lot of the times,

There are things in life we're trying to do,

Places we're trying to get to.

But we're surrounded by neighbors.

And sometimes these neighbors can help us get there,

Whether we know it or not.

I'll tell you a little story.

Many years ago,

I was working in this company.

And a young man came in,

Started working there.

He was almost done with his undergrad.

And I had been working for the company for a while.

So we would sit in the same meetings and stuff like that.

And one time,

We had to go to a company,

A sponsored conference.

And we had to carpool and all of that.

And he said,

Oh,

Yeah,

I'll drive you.

I wasn't planning on driving.

So I rode with him.

And as we were talking,

He was telling me what he wanted to do.

After his undergrad,

He wanted to go to graduate school and all of that.

And so I asked him what he wanted to do.

And he mentioned whatever he wanted to do.

And I was like,

Wow,

That's interesting.

That's what I studied in grad school.

He says,

Wow,

OK,

That's interesting.

And he wanted to go to the school that I went to.

So I said,

No problem.

I'm going to write you a letter of recommendation.

And I'm also going to introduce you to my academic advisor when I was in grad school.

And he was so excited.

And I called my professor.

We talked and said,

Hey,

You know.

So and so wants to get in the field.

He said,

Absolutely.

Any friend of Joe is a friend of mine,

Too.

He was accepted.

And now he works in the field.

What's the point of that?

Well,

Simply this.

We're all surrounded by people who can help us get to where we're going.

So we shouldn't really treat our neighbors like,

Oh,

Yeah,

They're just neighbors.

Anyway,

So today I want you to focus on loving your neighbors during these times.

And now I'm not talking about loving in words,

Only loving in tangible ways,

Loving in deeds.

The first step I want to give you is during this time,

Everybody's stressed and anxious and all of that.

I want you to call your neighbor.

Call them and speak words of encouragement to them.

We all get one encouraging word.

We can speak to somebody.

We got more.

But I want you to call them and speak kind words,

Encouraging words to them.

If you can't do that,

Call them and be a listening ear.

Sometimes people need others to listen.

We're bombarded with all kinds of things going on,

The news,

TV,

Movies,

And all of it.

And throughout all of that,

There are people who are struggling with depression and all kinds of mental challenges.

And all they need is a listening ear,

Somebody who would listen to them and the challenges they're going through,

Somebody to help them make sense of whatever it is that they're going through,

Somebody to help them process their feelings and emotions.

You may be thinking,

Yeah,

I got problems of my own and all of that.

Yes,

I know you do.

But you'd be surprised how much calling your neighbors,

Speaking a kind word to them,

Encouraging them,

Or lending your ears to whatever they've got to say will brighten your day and brighten the other person's day too.

So today,

Be a blessing.

Call them.

Speak a kind word to them.

Be a listening ear.

The second tip I want to give you is write a letter to your neighbor.

Put your contact info in it.

Put it in their mailbox.

And encourage them to reach out to you if they need anything.

You'd be surprised.

Write them.

Write a letter to them.

Encourage them.

You know,

What's the point of being neighbors if we cannot help each other,

If we cannot reach out when we need help?

Write a letter today.

Leave it in the mailbox,

Their mailbox.

Put on your contact info and encourage them to reach out if they need anything.

You'd be surprised.

Tip number three,

What are we doing with our elderly neighbors?

You know,

The way a society treats its elderly speaks volumes.

What are we doing with them?

If you have elderly neighbors,

Maybe often they offer to do groceries for them.

You know that in this present times and the challenges that we face,

And they're the most vulnerable in the population,

What can we do for them?

Call them up.

Write to them.

Check up on them as often as you can.

Offer to do groceries.

Most of them cannot get out there.

And so this is the time that we show them that we care.

This is the time that we do everything we can.

Check on them regularly.

Call them as to see how they are doing.

Anything they need to be done,

Get it done for them.

Let's not forget our elderly.

They were one time like us.

They served this country.

They served in their own communities and their own small ways or big ways they could.

Remember,

One day we'll all get there.

And how do we want to be treated when we get there?

Let's help our elderly neighbors.

Let's help our elderly neighbors.

Let's help our elderly neighbors.

Reach out to them.

Tip four.

Write a letter of gratitude to your neighbors.

It could even be your elderly neighbors.

You know,

We're surrounded by people.

And all these people,

They contribute to our lives.

In meaningful ways.

Our neighbors are very important.

We're surrounded by good people.

We're surrounded by people that are looking out for us.

I want you to sit down and think about your neighbor.

I'm sure you would have three things to say about your neighbor.

Three good things to write about your neighbor.

Write them a letter of gratitude.

Thanking them for being who they are.

Try to make sense of your life around each other.

All the good things that you can think of.

You know,

Just having people to talk to.

Having people to say hi to every morning or every afternoon or whatever it is.

That's a blessing.

Imagine you were the only person who lived in your community,

In your neighborhood.

Would that be boring?

It would.

So the presence alone is a blessing.

The little,

Little chit-chats that you have every now and then.

How sometimes you all come together around sports or subjects that you're passionate about.

And how they contribute.

And how sometimes you're trying to do something.

And they say,

Well,

I think this would go well with what you're trying to do.

Neighbors that come to help you when you're in your garden.

You're trying to make the house look good.

Plant some flowers.

And they're like,

You know what?

This kind of flower,

You know,

It's not really good for this kind of.

.

.

Your neighbors that are always sharing their knowledge and their expertise with you.

Write them a letter of gratitude.

It'll make you feel good.

And it'll make them feel good too.

Now the last tip I want to give you is this.

Drop off extra supplies.

You'd be amazed.

Not everybody has got a lot of paper towels or cleaning supplies.

Maybe even extra food.

We're blessed in this country to be able to have enough to take care of our families and to take care of others.

Not everybody may be lucky at this point.

Some of them it's not necessarily an issue of money or not having enough.

But not being able to get out there and buy for themselves what they need.

You've got extras.

Be kind.

Drop it off.

At that elderly neighbor's front yard,

Call them.

Say,

Hey,

I thought you guys may need this.

So I brought you some extras.

They will thank you.

They will be appreciative.

You know,

There are so many things we can do at this time to help each other.

These are just five that I can name top of my head.

Remember,

If you focus too much on yourself,

You're going to be miserable.

You don't want that.

Direct some of the attention to your neighbors.

And help them feel good.

Call them up.

Have conversations.

A warm conversation is going to make your heart feel good.

No,

Shut the TV.

It's getting to a point that's almost depressing.

That's not what you want.

You want to be looking at things in the right perspective.

If you cannot change your situation,

Maybe you can change somebody else's.

But what you have,

We are all endowed with so many talents,

Gift ends,

Abilities,

Whatever you want to call them.

And so this is the time you put them to good use.

Reach out to somebody today with the sole purpose of being a blessing to them.

Love your neighbors today.

Cherish them.

You be blessed.

Alright,

Remember,

You're not alone in this.

We're all in this together.

Be a blessing.

Have a great day.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.

Bye.