Love Your Neighbor

Matthew 22:37-39, “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

I was coming home from the hospital and I was watching different construction sites. One was road construction and there was a line of people carrying cement down to the construction site on their heads using these very large metal saucers. Another was a house construction and as I sat in traffic I was able to watch for a longer period of time. There were people filling up bags of sand, and then there were these other two guys standing there watching leaning on this log. Once the sand was filled into the bags then the two men leaning on the log picked it up turned it long ways and began to carry it away. The log was connected to a pulley system that carried the sand bags up to the third floor of the house that they were working on at the time.

Being the typical Westerner, I start thinking of the much easier, more efficient and effective ways the work could be completed. They could have easily created a trough going down to the location of the road and just let the cement flow into its place via gravity. And the house could have easily used an electric wench system that would move much faster and not need any breaks. This would have saved them money and time, so why not?

This is where I think India’s worldview demonstrates a more neighborly attitude then we do. It also would help eliminate the welfare state that we are quickly heading towards. They know they could use other systems to build, but how would that help the community? They know using people instead of machines will allow families to eat and though machines do not need rest; they do break down. People can take over for each other and keep working. Instead of using machines they give people the opportunity to earn a living for themselves, as India does not have a welfare system, but a neighborly system. A business man employs the community, giving them a sense of pride and accomplishment that they are able to provide for their families.

How would this look in the United States? Instead of the welfare system, we give people the opportunity to work and earn for their families. If they decide not to work by their own choosing then they do not eat. This would save millions, if not billions in taxes. Again, India does this because they think communally and not individually, but we can use our individual thinking and utilize their concept for the betterment of our country. This would ultimately give people a sense of pride and community because instead of attaining everything on the backs of others, they will have to work for it themselves.

Proverbs 10:4-5, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.”