Luke 10 contains the story Jesus uses to illustrate how a neighbor should conduct him or herself toward his or her neighbors. What stood out to me is that Jesus shares this story in response to self-righteous questioners asking who one’s neighbor is.  He as usual turns the question on its head and asks who showed himself to be a neighbor to the one in need.  It’s less about who our neighbor is and more about whether we are being neighbors to those God has placed in our path.
Lord, please lead us to being neighbors indiscriminately to those You place in our path, not being choosy and steering clear of those we are less comfortable with serving and traveling farther to find “friends” or peers we feel more comfortable with “serving”…  Lord, please forgive our choosy generation and draw us into true and eternal community with those You are pursuing in love as Your eternal family members, the poor in spirit, the meek, and so on…  We trust You, Jesus, and here and now begin to follow You rightly!

(This photo was taken by Jerry Ford, a new photographer friend here in Merced who loves to take photos in Yosemite National Park.)