Tomorrow in cities and towns all across America people will celebrate National Good Neighbor Day. This celebration of friendship happens annually on the third Sunday in September, as proclaimed by President Jimmy Carter beginning in 1978.

This year our Rockbrook Townhome neighborhood will have a community potluck picnic hosted at our community pool. There will be lots of yummy food, drinks, swimming, and conversations around the tables. We will have a time to recount summer vacation stories and catch up on neighbor happenings — but most of all practice the timeless art and life giving tradition of being good neighbors.

Historically good neighboring has been a bedrock to healthy communities. All the major faith traditions embrace good neighbor practices. In the Christian tradition Jesus place extreme importance of being a good neighbor, often referred to as the Great Commandment.

And yet I have found that being a good neighbor is simple, but not always easy to do. It takes awareness and intentionality. Often times in our uber busy lives we can forget to engage those nearest us.

Tomorrow on National Good Neighbor Day 2017 what would it look like for you to slow down, take a look around, and invest the time necessary to have a conversation with a neighbor, do some unexpected act of kindness, and begin to cultivate a neighboring relationship to those closest to you?

For a full list of ideas and best practices to become involved in National Good Neighbor Day, and for that matter every day, check out the “get involved” tab on the www.good-enighbor.org website by following this link: https://good-neighbor.org/get-involved-2/

Happy Good Neighbor Day!

Jim