Heather was leaving to take kids to school and there were cows in the road outside our gate.
Again.
Once I got them back in our pasture, I counted 27 cows and calfs. They belong to our neighbor to the east of us and have been coming over through a break in our east fence and another neighbor’s fence to our south. We were’t expecting steers for another few weeks so it wasn’t a big deal But when they come through our neighbor’s fence to our south, they were able to get to the road. And as anyone who’s spent any time at all with cattle can tell you, if there’s somewhere you don’t want them to be, cows will find a way to get there.
We had been getting these cows out of the road and back onto our property about 3 mornings a week for about 3 weeks…
There was something about that number 27 that got me to thinking about why I’m spending time and energy on cattle that aren’t even ours…
And the best reason I can think of is simply wanting to be a good neighbor. Of course having a pickup crash into a cow in front of our house… that would be bad all the way around… the pickup, the driver, our kids who would likely be in the middle of it, and certainly the cow.
And then I got to thinking about why being a good neighbor is a good deal.
Here are 6 good reasons for being a good neighbor.
Friendships
In my experience, the older we get, the more important friendships are to us.
Our kids are always telling us about so and so “my friend.” “What’s their name?” I ask. “I don’t remember.” “Well, how are they your friend if you don’t even know their name?” “I don’t know. They just are.” What they mean is that they’re thrown in together and they just play together.
That’s a bit like being neighbors. We’re thrown in together. Ready made friends.
But, what are friends really good for anyway?
Safety
Friends are safe. They generally do a pretty good job of looking after us. Friends who are neighbors can also notice things gone wrong when we’re away. They check up on us when they haven’t heard from us in awhile. They even know that our kids sometimes like to play in the road.:|
We all need help sometimes
One of these days, our cows will be in the road and we we’ll not know about it or be gone…
Neighbors can be a great help when a cold snap causes water pipes to break or trees fall on fences or a shed needs to be built.
Maybe I’m the only one who regularly needs a tool or the use of a piece of machinery that I don’t have. Often I only know about that tool or piece of machinery because I’ve seen it at my neighbors place. And neighbors who are friends are often willing to share.
The well-being boost of helping someone else
And sometimes, a neighbor has need of something that we have and they don’t . Being able to help or share just feels good. It helps us sleep better at night and makes us forget for just a minute that we don’t actually have it all figured out.
We demonstrate what is important
There isn’t much that says what we care about more than the way we treat our neighbors. Are we hospitable, friendly, selfless? Or are we closed off, grumpy, full of ourselves?
There is a line in John Wayne’s “The Alamo” where Davy Crocket talks about why he came to Texas to fight and even risk his life in helping Texas become free from the oppressive dictatorial rule of Mexico at that time. He said that “There’s a right and a wrong. You’ve got to do one of the other. If you do the one, you’re living. If you do the other, you might be walking around, but you’re dead as a beaver hat.”
We honor God
We want to be good neighbors because it is better to give than to receive and because we aught to think about the interest of others, not just our own. After all, there is no greater love than when one lays down his life for a friend.
I can think of no better example of being a good neighbor than when Jesus gave his life so our lives could be reconciled to God.
Following His example is a good enough reason for me.
So, when we’re getting someone else’s cows out of the road to where they can more easily get home and not get hit by a car or get lost or stolen or out to the highway, even when no one is watching and the owner will probably never know, and my son asks, “Why are we doing this again, Daddy?”, I’ll be happy to say, “Just being a good neighbor, son.”