Jesus was once asked by a Pharisee, “who is my neighbor?” The question followed Jesus’ admonition to him to “love his neighbor as himself.”

As was Jesus’ custom, he answered with a parable. He described a scene in which a man is robbed and beaten by thieves and left for dead. His plight was ignored by both a priest and a Levite, both of whom were part of the religious elite of that day. When a Samaritan saw the man, however, he stopped, treated his wounds, brought him to an Inn and paid for his stay until he recovered. A Jewish person in Jesus’ day would have been taken aback by this story since Samaritans and Jews did not get along. Therefore, the parable would have introduced a difficult lesson for the Pharisee. It would have forced him to see outside of his accustomed social norms.

In thinking about this story, the question occurred about how Jesus might tell the parable if speaking to an audience today. I might ask myself, for example, how willing would I be to come to the aid of a fearsome looking man on a deserted street at night in a strange city? What if a person holding beliefs that are abhorrent to your views begged you for help after being injured in a violent demonstration? These situations would certainly put Jesus’ command to love our neighbor to the test. I believe that we are challenged most every day in this way to greater or lesser degrees.

Much of Jesus’ ministry was spent forcing people out of their comfort zones. For this, he was persecuted. He was not a mainstream religious teacher. He shook up the status quo.

Today, our concept of neighbor is being stretched even further to include all sentient beings and even the earth itself. As we begin to realize how interconnected all things are, this really isn’t too much of a stretch. We have recognized the importance of biodiversity in laws that protect endangered species. Along those same lines, in 2017, New Zealand granted the status of legal personhood to a river. Chile is considering the same approach in its attempt to lessen the impact of hydroelectric dams.

Imagine if we treated everything with the respect that we would wish for ourselves. Perhaps, then, we might see the interconnectedness of all things and begin to witness how the harming of any part of God’s creation is harmful to all of us.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Charles Wellington is a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, Massachusetts, and regularly meditates with the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe.