Pause for Thought - BBC Radio 2 - Joel Edwards
WATCHING EACH OTHER'S BACK
I was in Sheffield yesterday. It was actually a return visit my wife’s relatives.
My brother in law was very keen for us to spend the night with him as the rest of the family were still on holiday. When I pulled the curtain of the main bedroom window overlooking the back of the house, I wasn’t sure if I liked what I saw. It all felt a bit exposed.
Their house backed on to another four or five properties in a kind of wagon-train circle. And from the window you could see right into everybody else’s backyard. It felt as if it lacked privacy – until I went downstairs for breakfast. From that vantagepoint, the shoulder high fences meant that all the houses had just enough privacy to feel nice and cosy.
As we were leaving the house, our host seemed quite relaxed about an opened window. And on our way he said he was on first name terms with all his neighbours.
And then the penny dropped.
In that neighbourhood, everybody watched every body else’s back. So anyone trying to burgle any of the houses was likely to be spotted by someone else.
But the price of security is being transparent to all the neighbours.
As I headed South for London, the words which kept coming back to me were from a biblical character called Cain who asked, "Am I my brother’s keeper?"
It was a self-evident question which came from a man who murdered his own brother. Cain knew perfectly well that he was his brother’s keeper.
And this is true for all of us. For God has placed us all in community. We’re thrown together in a whole range of wagon-trains. From different cultures, and backgrounds, in our social settings and our religious groups; in the workplace and in our homes, God expects all of us in all these different settings to be one another’s keepers. That’s not to say this comes easy. It’s not exactly a stroll in the park.
For many of us, it does mean giving up some elements of personal preferences. Or taking the trouble to reach out to someone from a different culture or faith. It means straddling the really tricky business of helping someone – without meddling in their business.
A bit like looking in your neighbour’s backyard without peeking into their bedroom!
Today, all of us are each other’s keeper. It’s the way God has set things up. And when we fail to do so all of us are at risk.
Rev. Joel Edwards
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