Love Your Neighbor
This week, upon hearing that a life was taken while seeking to bear witness and protect our immigrant neighbors from harm, my soul was once again deeply troubled.
In the flurry of instant reactions and repeated calls that “we must see one another as human,” I found myself wondering—would that be enough? Even when we acknowledge one another’s humanity, why does it still so often fail to move us toward the common good?
I began to wonder if there is a deeper call—something that reaches beyond recognition and into responsibility.
To answer that question, I returned to what my personal faith teaches about who we are to one another- fellow humans and also neighbors- a sacred truth echoed across countless cultural and spiritual traditions around the globe.
In my faith tradition, a neighbor is not simply someone in your geographic proximity, though that is certainly part of it. Instead, the biblical story of the Good Samaritan teaches that a neighbor is anyone you encounter along your path—regardless of race, ethnicity, political viewpoint, citizenship status, or anything else used to define or divide us.
In this story, Jesus intentionally walks through a marginalized community so that his path will cross with those cast as “other,” as less than, as undeserving of dignity or care. And there, he centers and cares for the very one he is told not to love or acknowledge as his neighbor—revealing that neighborliness is who we choose to see, to draw near to, and to love.
I have a sign in my kitchen, strategically placed so my kids and I see it first thing every morning. It was made by Treetops and has hung on my wall for nearly six years. It simply says: Love your neighbor.
And maybe that is the whole truth and responsibility we need to return to.
Yes, I see you as human.
Yes, I acknowledge you as my neighbor.
But do I love you?
Do I love you by seeing you?
By responding to your needs?
By protecting you?
By honoring your dignity and worth?
By celebrating your gifts and making space for you to share them?
Do I love you by advocating for you?
By listening and learning from you?
By sharing meals with you?
By holding your babies and spending time together as families?
By caring for you when you are sick?
By writing notes of encouragement when you feel weary or alone?
Do I love you by bearing witness to your pain, your fear, and your uncertainty—and doing my part to seek peace, as far as it depends on me?
At Treetops, we lament the loss of Renee Nicole Good, a fellow lover of neighbor, and the countless lives harmed and disrupted by violence in the name of immigration reform.
And here at Treetops, our response is steady, even when it is not easy: we keep loving our neighbors.
We know our love alone will not solve every mighty issue facing our world. But it offers something essential—a living alternative to hatred and despair. It gives our community a chance to bear witness to not only the pain and chaos happening around us, but to goodness. To courage. To joy. To love in action.
In that sense, maybe loving our neighbors just might change the world.
Will you join us?
