“Who is my neighbor” is a rhetorical question originating from the parable of the good Samaritan, where Samaritans where the sworn enemies of the Israelites and the Israelite did not want to recognize Samaritans as his neighbor, nor answer the high moral calling of being a good neighbor to all. The correct answer to being a good neighbor is: “The one who has mercy.” This parable parallels the biblical story of Can and Abel, where, after Cain murdered his brother Abel, Cain deflects God’s inquiry as to where his brother Abel is. The correct answer to the rhetorical question of “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is: “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.” Unfortunately, in common parlance, each in this pair of rhetorical questions is most often employed as a way to parry responsibility for one another, entirely missing the moral lesson. The intended moral lesson is that we have a deep and abiding responsibility to awe of our brothers and sisters, and our neighbors, which includes our enemies and foreigners in our land. This poem is a tip of the hat to awe of the protesters and resisters who get this moral lesson and protect the human rights of all, including immigrants and our enemies…
Neighbor’s Keeper
Are you familiar
With the explosive rhetorical device
And intimate biblical no’ing
As just a quest in
Am I my neighbor’s keeper?
Are we awe mothers us
In our rejoinder
Flooding the street
With a righteous and riotous yea!
That holy yes
I am my neighbors’ keeper
And awe of my neighbors
Are keepers
Go and do like wise…
