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Revered God of Words,
It is with deepest gratitude for accepting my queries, that I write to you to better understand your instructions to me. I would like to understand precisely, so that I can follow precisely. I don't want to stand before you at judgement and realize that I had completely misunderstood something you said.
Without much ado, I would like to ask you, who is my "neighbour" and who is my "enemy"? I'd like to make sure I check them off my "To love" list. I know I am not the first one to ask you this question but like I said, I'm looking for a precise answer (a little more than the one you already gave). It may have been different in your time but now, I have to pass 2 guard dogs and an electric fence to find a neighbour and few hundred miles to reach my country's border to try and spot an enemy. Please help me with my predicament.
Kind regards,
To-a-tee.
Dear To-a-tee,
Under normal circumstances, I would understand your frustration with my original response to "who is my neighbour?". I was under the impression that the recent exodus of a few thousand migrant workers, trudging home till their soles were bare might have made you a little more familiar with the wounded traveller.
Nevertheless, let me try and help you with your predicament, as requested. In my relatively short but well-rounded experience as a Man in your world, I often found that it was quite a challenge to tell my neighbour from my enemy. The one that sat beside me and the one that was working against me was often one and the same. Tell me, To-a-tee, is the one that nails me to my cross as I cry out "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." my neighbour or my enemy? You, indeed, illustrate my very point when you say that both the neighbour and the enemy are separated from you by an electric fence. Perhaps, you too see the overlap.
I hope I put it precisely enough when I tell you that my intention in narrating "the good Samaritan" was to let my questioner know that he had quite missed the point. And, unfortunately, To-a-tee, so have you.
We could argue all day if the old lady down the street (who filed that noise complaint against your dog and makes sure to share a piece of her mind every time you pass by) is your neighbour or your enemy. But you and I both know you only fret about which column she comes under so that you don't have to actually move on to the part where you HAVE TO LOVE HER, don't we?
Love,
Lover of friends and foes