Yesterday the doorbell rang. It hasn’t rung in weeks, maybe months. And standing there smiling on our front porch when my wife opened the door was our elementary-school-aged neighbor. She was doing projects. And over the course of the next few hours, she returned several times.
She came to borrow a half a teaspoon of baking powder to make cookies.
Then, she came to find out how many cookies we would like if she brought us some.
She returned with fresh cookies in Ziploc bags – with one more than she promised… just for good measure.
She came back with a question about how to get food dye off of her skin—more projects, I guess.
She met us on our evening walk to ask if we had a small bowl she could borrow. She had a gift she wanted to bring us… in the bowl.
She rang the doorbell when the gift was ready. And she rang it several more times, each time bringing individual gifts, specially wrapped in tinfoil and other odds-and-ends, for each member of our household.
It wasn’t a bother, though we smiled every time the doorbell rang. What it was, was a reminder to me that thoughtful neighbors, simple gifts and friendly smiles will be the engine that reengage our communities.
Until a week ago, the news was filled with commentary on how to reengage our economies, how to open up our businesses, and how to return to the capitalism that has long been the stabilizing force in our western world.
But something had been nagging at my spirit.
Maybe reengaging our economy wasn’t the only thing that needed a set of guidelines, and maybe it wasn’t even the most important thing we needed. Maybe we needed to put as much thought and effort into how to reengage in relationships and conversations and friendly neighboring.
And I believe that yesterday, my young neighbor outlined a great plan for us all:
- Smile.
- Wave your arm above your head and holler a kind word from across the street.
- Ring the bell next door to borrow something you could easily buy.
- Visit again later with a simple gift.
- Be a good neighbor.
Do you have a story of someone being a good neighbor? Share it in a comment… then go borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor, even if you don’t need to.