Find time to help a neighbour today

HELLO, MI neighbour! The world is run by busy people who are mostly on the run; we call them 'runners'. Meetings, conferences, deadlines, etc, keep them fully occupied. Making an appointment to see them is sheer frustration. They are busy with the people's business.

By the time they are through with their back-to-back meetings, it is time to catch a flight to go overseas. Their secretaries are also very busy people. Call their office and invariably they have just stepped out, or just went for lunch, or down with the flu, or on another call. Go ahead and leave the 12th message, but remember that that call might not be returned anytime soon. It is called reality. Check?

The decisions these 'runners' make influence the decisions we make. If they decide to hike the prices of goods and services, many persons will be forced to lower their consumption of these goods and services. If we respond irresponsibly to their decisions, we end up with expensive problems. And we know what happens when expensive problems are created. We spend our entire life trying to solve them.

I read somewhere recently where a gentleman spent US$40 million in trying to restore his health after making a series of bad decisions which led to its erosion. For some, that amount is a drop in the bucket, but for the majority it is a fortune. Thank heavens he could afford it, but had he made better decisions, that amount could have helped to preserve the lives of many others.

Back to my first paragraph, the decisions made by busy people are not the only ones that can have a serious, long-lasting effect on our lives. The decision of the man in the street, at times, carries far more weight than those in authority.

All connected

Take running for office, for example. Brilliant political scientists with years of experience and economic wizardry may decide that they will become leaders, but it is the decision of the 'little man' that will determine what they become. But this is the point: the decisions we make on a daily basis affect all of us. Why? We are all connected as human beings. In other words, we are neighbours.

We feel the pulse of one another - hurt when others hurt. Some leave no stones unturned in an effort to relieve the pain of others. On hearing about two young children, who were sleeping on the floor because their mother's friend took back the bed that she had loaned her due to a petty squabble, I was moved to action. So deep was my hurt over the matter that I did all that was in my power to ensure the children's comfort. That very evening, they got a bed. Thanks to the neighbours who participated in the solution.

As we travel along life's busy corridors, we must make important decisions, but remember that there is no decision more important (in our responsibility to one another) than the decision to love our neighbours as ourselves. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the meaning of these words: "Love thy neighbour as thyself." Make it a reality by helping someone from the list below.

Opportunities to help

1. Ms Johnson, St Andrew, 74 years old, needs a bed, not well.

2. Sister Pauline, St Catherine, senior citizen, needs a blender.

3. Neighbour, St Catherine, unemployed, asking neighbours for baking tins to start a small business, also ingredients if possible.

4. Mr Walker, senior citizen, living alone, asking for a television.

5. Michelle, St Andrew, asking neighbours for stroller for a pair of twins.

Thanks for helping

1. Neighbour, St Andrew, for donating a gas cylinder to a needy neighbour.

2. Neighbour, St Catherine, for offering fabric to Ms Whyte, St Andrew, to assist her little dressmaking business.

3. Ms Robinson, St Andrew, for donating clothing for needy children.

4. Mr Brady, St Andrew, for donating crutches to a needy neighbour.

To help us, please call 906-3167, 884-3866, 299-3412 or deposit to acct # 351 044 276 NCB. (Bank routing #: JNCBJMKX) or send donations to HELLO NEIGHBOUR c/o 53 Half-Way Tree Road, Kingston 10, helloneighbour@yahoo.com.