PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

July 27, 2022

LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (Part IV)

Unseen Neighbors

When I was the pastor of the Westville United Methodist Church the congregation purchased a house that was located just east of the church.  A number of years later the church tore down the house and constructed an addition to the church building.  The house was rented for income to offset the purchase price.

One of the renters was a family with several children.  They were friendly and the children seemed well adjusted.  Over several conversations I learned that the family followed a pattern of renting a house, running up debts, and then moving.  From what they shared this pattern went back at least two or three generations.  This was my introduction to a subgroup of society that I had never consciously encountered before.

My next appointment I had a second degree of separation encounter with another family who was a part of this same sub-group.  One of the ladies at the Barkley United Methodist Church worked for the county extension agency.  A part of her portfolio was to implement a Purdue University program that helped a family get their finances under control.  The lady worked with a family over a period and finally got them in a sound financial situation.  Just when everything seemed to be going right, family members moved in because of the improved financial condition and undid everything that had been done.

Several years ago I was involved with a committee sponsored by the local Episcopal Church to start a restaurant that would provide an opportunity for members of the church to interact with the poor.  As a part of the committee’s preparation they read articles about how to minister with the poor.  We learned that those who were on the committee operated on long term goals while the target group operated on short term goals.  This helped to explain the operating assumptions of the family who rented the house in Westville and the family with whom the lady worked at the Barkley United Methodist Church.

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells the story of a rich man who dies and goes to heaven. (Luke 16:19-31) During his lifetime, living outside his door was a poor man, Lazarus, who is covered with sores.   When Lazarus dies the rich man asks Father Abraham to have Lazarus give him something to satisfy his thirst.  Father Abraham refuses the request reminding the rich man that during the man’s lifetime there was a great chasm between him and Lazarus.  From the perspective of the Parable of the Good Samaritan Lazarus was an unseen neighbor who lived at the rich man’s very door.

I am convinced that all around me there exist people who are part of sub-groups of our society of whom I am not aware.  They are unseen neighbors in our midst.  We interact with them on a regular basis at Walmart  All of us seek the God given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Reflecting back on the family that I met in Westville so many years ago I am not too sure that they were not doing just as well as I in seeking these goals.  The difference between us was we had much different understandings of what life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean.  They strived after short term goals while I strived after long term goals.