"And who is my neighbor?"

In the process of working on my paper for Fenn, I found myself writing this...In terms of abortion and homosexuality do we have the right to say that is an impurity that is unforgivable? "If I speedily walk past three homeless men laying on mattresses covered in blankets with myself and four other girls in search of shelter and a good Thanksgiving meal before the rain, thinking I should stop and give them my granola bars and talk for a while, yet speeding on past avoiding eye contact and looking back only once, then forgetting about them, am I more easily forgiven than the sins of others? And why is this when all sins are the same in the eyes of the Lord? The problem the church finds itself in is a lack of dialogue and love for people who have sinned visibly unless it is something we ourselves do daily."

Interesting how I felt myself resisting eye contact with these men on the street, yet at the same time hating myself for doing so. But not enough to actually stop. Not enough to forget about what the other four girls would think if I stopped and talked to three homeless men on matresses. Not enough to take the granola bars out of my bag and offer them as their Thanksgiving meal, possibly only meal of the day. And their faces that I tried to ignore stare back at me even now. Does my quick prayer said in haste as our group walks by to get out of the weather--suddenly gone cold and windy with a possibility to rain--even count, when I left them there without thinking of what they would do if it started raining? Instead in marvel over the seemingly cozy space they had made for themselves. Superficial as it were. Wishing I had my City Lights friends here so that they would have taken the initiative to talk to them and it wouldn't have been my responsibility. Cause I passed on by.

This story comes to mind... Who was the neighbor to these men, Father? Cause I'm sad to say it wasn't me...