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The headline on my newsfeed caught my eye.  “NO, Street Vagrants Are Not ‘Our Neighbors’.” But they probably are.

The article had to do with policies regarding the homeless in Los Angeles.  An apparently newly-elected city council member and Democratic Socialist used the term “neighbors” in arguing for a new, and arguably more lenient, policy regarding homeless encampments. Now, you can count me out when it comes to the growing support for the Democratic Socialists. My guess is that we are going to find the “warmth of collectivism” as cold as the wait for a Siberian spring.

After deciding I disagreed with the headline, I read the article.

The “not our neighbors” line was not clickbait set as a lure to entice curious fish; it was the heart of the post. The columnist wrote:“Neighbor” traditionally conjures the image of someone with an equal stake in one’s community as oneself, who shares one’s interest in stability, and who can be counted on, in times of need, for help. The occupants of the feces- and drug-strewn trash sites euphemistically referred to as “encampments,” as if they were part of a Boy Scout Jamboree, don’t fit the bill. Those transients are parasites on other people’s efforts to create a community. They contribute nothing, pay no rent or taxes, and inevitably bring lawlessness and predation. They almost invariably turn down the shelter and services offered by feckless outreach workers, since they want no interference with their unrestricted drug use.”

While these are the most incendiary words in the piece, I do not disagree with all the author wrote. Even if the homeless frequently “contribute nothing, pay not rent or taxes, and inevitably bring lawlessness and predation,” however, they are still our neighbors. Jesus said so.

When a lawyer asked Jesus to define who is a neighbor and who is not, Jesus responded by telling him a story about a man on the road to Jericho who was mugged and then helped by a passerby who happened to be a hated Samaritan. You may remember the story. As Bible scholar Kenneth Bailey says, the lawyer’s conventional wisdom held that “Gentiles are not neighbors and everyone knows God hates the Samaritans, so they certainly do not qualify as neighbors.” Commentator Norval Geldenhuys summarizes his thoughts on the Parable of the Good Samaritan by writing, “Jesus teaches explicitly that love for one’s neighbor knows no bounds of nationality or of anything else, no matter what.”

I have little confidence in the ability of warm collectivism to free people from feces- and drug-strewn trash sites.  Or to free me from a definition of neighbor that is limited to people just like me. But Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves and that by abiding in his word, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:31-33).

Yes, street vagrants are our “neighbors,” and we love them by caring for them and by sharing God’s love and freedom-bringing word with them.

The book made its headlines ten years ago, but I just read it this week after reading an essay that mentioned it. The Amazon page from which I ordered “When Breath Becomes Air,” quoted a New York Times review describing the book as ““Unmissable . . . Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.”  I will not forget about it.

The dust jacket of “When Breath Becomes Air” identifies the book as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer nominees page describes the setting for Paul Kalanithi’s writing, “At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live.” The book is the story of Kalanithi’s first 35 years of life – his growing up years and his decision to become a neurosurgeon, and of his last 20 months of living with and then dying of cancer.

“When Breath Becomes Air” was not the first in the genre of death journals, nor of the genre of a physician becoming the patient. With its fine writing and deep insights both into medicine and the search for meaning in life, it may be one of the best of either genre. The book is not a “Christian book” by any means, but Christian faith is present and real as Kalanithi seeks the meaning of life and of death.

I recommend the book without hesitation. Because it is ten years old, the hardcover edition is actually cheaper than the Kindle version. Buy it! Go to your local library and check it out! Continue reading →

Our 8-year-old grandson has taken to calling us “the oldies.”  We take it as a term of affection.  It’s also true. We are oldies. I will celebrate my 75^th birthday next month and enter what J.I. Packer called being old. Not young-old and not old-old. Just old.

For all our lives we Baby Boomers have dominated our world. Suburbs and schools were built for us in the 1950s. We warned against trusting anyone over 30 in the 1960s. Our music, our movies, our politics, and our preferences have defined reality for decades. Now the youngest of us are receiving monthly Social Security checks and the oldest of us are finding ourselves in assisted living and nursing care facilities.

We may be old, but still we dominate.

A current best-seller, Gerontocracy in America, by Yale historian Samuel Moyn looks primarily at the political ramifications of our generation’s refusal to go gentle into that good night, but considers, as well, other ways Boomers hold onto power, position, and possessions.

Maybe it is just a case of turn-around being fair play. Gen-Xers like Moyn along with younger Millennials and Zoomers are taking aim at the generation that ignored Gen-Xers, belittled Millennials, and now mostly roll our eyes at our Zoomer children and grandchildren. They want us to go away. Not only do we need to vacate our political offices (good idea!), we should hurry up and pass on our $100 trillion of accumulated wealth, sell our houses, travel less, maybe even make a final exit. Continue reading →

“A Self-Help Influencer with Troubles of Her Own.” The headline appeared in last week’s New York Times and offered enough bait for me to click the link. Full disclosure: I think the existence of “influencers” is a bitter indictment of the sad state of our culture, and I wondered if I might take delight in the woes of one member of a breed of such pernicious persons. I was not disappointed

The article is about an influencer who, according to the Times, “millions look to (…) for advice on how to achieve contentment and maintain healthy relationships.” It turns out that she has achieved little contentment in her own life and that her personal relationships are a disaster, even according to the New York Times, which, in its current iteration, has not seen a left-leaning relationship trend it cannot endorse (currently all in for polyamory). The on-again off-again estrangement with her two partners and the lawsuits filed against one another do not paint a picture of contentment and healthy relationships.

The English Standard Bible translates the Greek word κανῶν as “area of influence” (kanon – from which we get the English word “canon” – a standard or rule of faith and conduct). As Paul writes to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:13-18) he speaks of the area of influence God has assigned. He desires that he might influence others for the sake of the Gospel. Continue reading →

This past week we visited our daughter, her husband, and our 8-year-old grandson.  In addition to Star Wars and Legos, the 8-year-old loves karate and, related, the old Chuck Norris television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, where the Chuck Norris Texas Ranger typically uses his karate skills to apprehend the villain of the week.

During our visit we were able to attend one of our grandson’s karate lessons and watch an episode of Texas Ranger (and Episode VI of Star Wars). I preferred the karate lesson.

At the karate studio, the sensei (teacher) instructs the karatekas (students) mostly by demonstration. The sensei makes a move and the karatekas mimic what they see. It is a fascinating process. I’m not sure most adults would fare any better, but among the under-10 set there are many lapses in replicating the moves of the sensei. Of course, because the sensei typically faces the karatekas as he or she teaches, the left-right mirror image can be confusing, but at other times the student just doesn’t see what the teacher has done – how high the knee was lifted or whether the punch was a lunge or a hook. Perfection comes through repetition. Continue reading →