The most quoted line in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall” is “Good fences make good neighbors.” If you read the entire poem, however, you’ll find that Frost begins with “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” and later writes:
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That wants it down.’
I am thankful for neighbors who look out for us; feed our dog when we’re out-of-town; invite the kids over to play; stand in the street, enjoying the kids and passing the time with us. My oldest daughter and I spent four hours in the emergency room early Thursday morning. We didn’t get home until 5 a.m. The next morning the younger kids were wired because Mommy was out of commission. I had my eleven-year-old get the little ones dressed and take them to one of our neighbors to see if they could play there with some adult supervision while my daughter and I got some sleep. Not only did they stay and play, she took them to McDonald’s for lunch!
Galatians 5:14
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
