due to circumstances completely within my control...I have not blogged for over 3 weeks. However, the time has come once again, to grace the world with my thoughts.

There will be no Tim story this time. However, there were several things he wished for me to pass on to all of you. 1.) Tim Wenger knows absolutely nothing about Star Wars. In fact, he has never stayed awake throughout an entire film! 2.) Tim's life goal is to "get rich or die trying." 3.) The best material to make harmonicas out of is PVC pipe. Incidentally, Tim is also able to kill a man using any size of PVC pipe...thus, the harmonica will inevitably have multiple functions. 5.) Tim's favorite number is 5, so I skipped 4. Why "5" you ask? He has 5 toes, 5 fingers, 5 limbs, and the size of his sideburns is "FIVE" 6.) Tim believes in reincarnation. He did a Facebook test to see what he will be in his next life and discovered that he will be "your wildest dreams." 7.) For every song Tim sings, God spares a llama from being killed by Nickelback. 8.) While discussing a security issue here, we asked Tim what we should do if he were to parish. He responded with, "If I'm dead, you've all been dead for weeks."

Well, after a week of struggling through a massive sunburn (and the inevitable peel to follow), we are once again looking forward to another week with its many joys and challenges. Lately I have been thinking about what it means to love your neighbour and how i can do that on a daily basis.

To love your neighbour is a commandment that is as important as loving your God...so obviously it should be a big part of a Christian's life. However, I think that we neglect this commandment all too often. Neglecting this commandment can have some devastating results. Not only does it separate us from God, but it can be the reason relationships are broken, wars are started, racism is enabled. Clearly, Jesus saw things that we didn't. Somehow, we have perverted the idea of loving your neighbour into something that is so far from the truth

In South Africa, the long lasting effects of Apartheid can still be seen. I have seen the townships where Black people were assigned to live, and still do live. South Africa has a first-world economy. However, the conditions that the townships are clearly third-world. I have also seen cashiers at the store choose which customers they wish to serve based on race, which is completely unfathomable in Canada. The idea of Apartheid was accelerated in the 50's by Hendrik Voerwerd, who believed that he was doing God's will, and saw his actions as God sent, a prime example of how we have perverted the idea of loving our neighbour. The entire idea of Apartheid was to separate every ethnicity from each other, in order to prevent the Black community as a whole from rising up into power (turning neighbours into strangers). They did this by setting up separate communities for the different groups, often kept apart by a highway, river, or railway; and by declining rights to the different groups. Obviously, this has had some devastating effects.

Now, in post Apartheid South Africa, we are faced with crime rates that are unlike anywhere else in the world, poverty that is staggering, wealth that is concentrated in a largely white minority, and an inability to see past the past and into the future...an inability to love our neighbour as our self.

In one example, a woman (i am shaky on this story, so im sorry if its incorrect or lacks info) had had her family killed in front of her by a white South African army personal. During the Truth and Reconciliation process that has been undertaken in South Africa to deal with the aftermath of Apartheid, this woman and man were brought face to face in the courtroom, and the judge asked the woman what she thought would be a fair punishment. The woman's response was "I wish to have Mr.??? visit me once a week, to see where I live, and to eat with me, since I do not have any children to do this with." In short, the woman chose justice instead of vengeance...a beautiful example of loving your neighbour.

However, these examples seem hard to come by, and that is a depressing thought. In the end, we can set up programs to help homeless people, we can vote for the person we think will solve our social issues, we can become more environmentally friendly, these are all great things (and can be part of loving our neighbour) but what it all comes down to is that the human heart must change...we must love our neighbour AS ourselves...and only then will we see hope.

Seeing as no one has likely made it this far in my blog...Tim also wanted me to let you all know that if 10 ppl comment on this blog (useful comments please) that he will legally change his first name to "Chenger." Get it....chenger wenger! yup....

Kyle