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Spirit of the Flame - 70 days following the Olympic Torch
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DAY 24

As the Olympic Torch continues its tour around Scotland, I reflect on a TV programme I saw the other day. "Ade In Britain" is a show where Ade Edmonson, of "The Young Ones" fame, is touring Britain looking for ancient or traditional food. 

In this show he was near the English/Scottish border. He met some people who carry on a tradition in Berwick-Upon-Tweed of patrolling the border to ensure the Scots had not crossed over. It was all done in historic fashion, though it hardly seems neighbourly, but I guess there was a reason to do it centuries ago.

I was sorting out some stuff this evening. Well, boxes of stuff to be honest. I came across a magazine, that I can't for the life of me remember why I kept. But in it is an article by a solicitor outlining the law and neighbourly disputes. 

The article considers many problems neighbours quarrel over. At the end of the article the writer says, "I have always regarded having bad neighbours as hell on earth - a way of acquiring points to be cashed in when the next world is reached!"

One day an expert in religious legalism asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. I guess he was looking for "acquiring points to be cashed in when the next world is reached!" Jesus retorted asking what the religious legal requirements were. He replied that it is to love God with all your might and love your neighbour as yourself. To be sure the expert was meeting his target he asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbour?"

Jesus told the story we call the "The Good Samaritan." A man gets jumped by a gang, and left for dead. Two fellow countrymen came past, at separate times, both men of authority. But neither stopped to help. It was a traveller from another country who did stop, cleaned the victim up, and booked him into a hotel, at the traveller's expense. 

If we are to experience the presence of God, now and in the next world, it seems we can learn something through treating others with compassion, consideration, and care. So who is my neighbour? It may be someone from another country, from over the border, or just over the fence. 

Eternal life can start now, though it is not done on a point system. Experiencing and portraying the presence of God starts now too.

-Pr Nathan Stickland

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