A Story Behind Every Door
Jane Mangone
Category: COMMUNITY LIVING
PURCHASE THIS CLIP: Individual Clip
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE: Jane Mangone participated in a neighboring campaign organized by Building Blocks, a joint church initiative that encourages and challenges Christ followers to know, and
even love, their literal neighbors.
Sara and I moved into a new house over the weekend, which makes the topic of neighboring quite relevant for us. We long to be part of a neighborhood where people are involved in each other’s lives. Many of the elements are in place (houses have front porches, it’s a walking community, near a huge city park, and we plan to get a dog soon), but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
DISCUSSION TOPIC:
How well do you know your neighbors? Are you satisfied with this level of interaction? What are some things that have helped (or might help) you get to know your neighbors better?
Love this, Craig. Would like to post it on the DE site. Great example of the gentle art of paying attention.
We have worked hard to know and serve our neighbors on the one-block street we have lived on the past six years. We’ve twice held front yard bbq’s and invited everyone on the block. Turn out was about half, I think, both times. But we have met everyone eventually, and have walked with three families through a suicide of a son, the death of two wives (cancer, stroke), and a nasty feral cat problem that became a team effort that resulted in the capture of over 30 feral cats in two weeks. One neighbor has become a pretty close friend and part of my Monday Night Football group. But some neighbors are just not interested in connecting with anyone, it seems. One couple next door to me actually are kind of young hermits who are rarely seen outside their house. Two families speak very little English, but we have been invited to birthday parties and other celebrations at their homes and managed to understand the universal language of PARTY. So it’s been harder and longer for us to connect with our neighbors than this video seems to suggest, but it is SO worth the effort and time. Plus it’s what Jesus asked us to do, right?
I think this is a great way to build relationships. I appreciated the video and the work that Jane is doing. However, I feel that in general, my relational efforts have been better invested in other areas. I already have ongoing relationships with family, colleagues/peers, old friends, and fellow church-goers; to intentionally seek out new relationships seems to me to be a bit diluting. Neighbors are not, and do not need to be, automatically friends. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus was asked who qualifies as a neighbor. His response implied that it is not proximity to another that creates neighbors, but how one interacts with another. Certainly we are all called to act neighborly to our actual neighbors, but I don’t think that we necessarily need to intentionally pursue closer relationships with them, especially considering the high mobility of our society. Although I try not to run away from new relationships, in those times when I have spent my limited relational resources on newer acquaintances, I have actually been rendered less neighborly toward my older, closer friends.