A Good Neighbour

"Love thy neighbour as thyself." 

This commandment is only second to the commandment of loving thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul and all thy mind. Matthew 22-37-39. 

What does it take to love thy neighbour? Proverbs 3:26 is clear what we should not do - withhold that which is due to your neighbour. We should not delay that should have been given to your neighbour. God had provided to us all the goodness at the right time and we have been fully blessed, should we not provide for our neighbours the little bit of goodness that we can give?

In this day and age, having a neighbour that we can communicate is very rare, let alone one whom we can have a good relationship. Yet we know having a good neighbour is so important, but have we made any effort to connect with our neighbours? I have been most blessed to have a good neighbour in this life. Mr Yang is a Peranakan with such a big heart. He has a little Jack Russell that was happily overweight due to all the good food that came from the owner's table. He extended his love even to my two retriever dogs three times the size of his. 10 years ago when I become his neighbour, he became the unofficial guardian of my dogs. Very often he will come with treats from his own dog's stash or off his own table. My dogs grew to love his regular visits as they finally had the chance to eat something sinful, a break from the strict diet they had in my house. 

I benefitted from Mr Yang's generosity as well. Knowing that I would rather starve than to cook something in my own kitchen, my neighbour will give me a bowl of his own lunch or dinner whenever I am at home. He always thinks I will really starve and selflessly provided me from his own table. His portion is always good for 2 or 3 of my own meals and without him, home cook food would have been a rarity in my life lifetime. Mr Yang is my neighbour, the guardian to my dogs and a second father to me. I thank God for His provision of such a good neighbour in such abundance that truly I do not deserve.