Thank heaven my next door neighbor at least knew me casually. He fell on Halloween and assumed he had just pulled a muscle in his thigh. After almost two weeks, he called me and asked me to help him get to the ER. We were going to do that yesterday morning. Instead, because he was wobbly, he decided, thank the Lord, to ask me to call an ambulance.
He had surgery this morning, for a broken hip. This man had been somehow living in there these past two weeks with a broken hip, alone. I am happy that he had the wisdom to call someone. It will be no trouble for me, over the next month or so, to pick up his mail daily and to get his checkbook to him, once a week, to pay the bills.
There are many in here, though, who do not know who they could call. They do not even know their neighbors by name, or even by sight. I noticed this happening a lot even in some apartment complexes I have lived in.
It is not necessary to become dear, lifelong friends with everyone around us. But we need to know each other well enough to speak to if necessary. My heart aches for folks who withdraw from neighborliness completely.
Sweet Jesus, you who lived here among us, please bless those around us who might need our help. Fill them with the love they need to know those around them, at least to some degree. Help those who are most alone so that they can ask for help if they need it.
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