They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7 NLT)
For the past two years, I have observed my faith been tested beyond my mastery. This is not the first time though. But in this specific case, every bone in me wants to whip out at my neighbour. I made a mistake of signing a contract for a flat that is not acoustically soundproof. To be straightforward, I was betrayed. Often when contractors sees the desperation of others, they won’t hesitate to trade on that, which was what occurred in my case.
Whatever, I cannot shift back the hands of the clock to rectify that. I can only think about moving out of the flat and moving on to a perfect place where God has in store for me.
Meanwhile, my neighbour derives extreme pleasure in making life difficult for me. Imagine what’s like having a cat in a flat like that? Broadly speaking, cats don’t sleep at night and having my bedroom right underneath my neighbour’s is a hell on earth. When he wakes up, I must wake up. When he snores , I must pass the night listening to him. When his cat runs here and there in his bedroom, knocking down objects (and in every part of their felt), I have been brutally jerked and still being jerks out of my slumber. I have penned two letters to him. I’ve run to the police. I have had numerous rendezvous with the house contractors and they’ve convicted him.
Withal, there was no improvement. I’ve broken my ceilings while tapping to warn him. He would apologize, but persisted in the same thing. Of recent, he became partially disabled from an accident at work. Sometimes when he fought to walk with his cane, or when the ambulance came to pick and drop him, I felt nothing else but indignation. To worsen the situation he brought him a jobless hefty man to squat with him; someone, my neighbour explains, is there to help him in the house. Hence, we have a cat and two unemployed men (one disabled and one a very big man) in the flat above me. They are there 24/7.
Often times I fled the flat to go and stay with my allies. I only come to the house once in three weeks and just stayed for three to five days before I go away again. The house contractors, other occupants and my neighbour know that this is because of him. In short, everyone knows. Each time, I had frustrations, unforgiving thoughts and feelings towards my neighbour. I honestly couldn’t care less. I have heard this, but through him, I came to realize that, sometimes disabled people just deliberately harm others. Possibly out of the need to pour out their misfortune on others.
One day, I was in the cleaning up and getting ready to go back to my friends’ place when I looked outside and saw two medics carrying up my neighbour in a wheelchair to his flat. His situation just keeps growing worse and worse.
At that stage, I thought of Jesus. It is true this man wrong me and still behaving. It is true that I am paying for a flat that I cannot live in because of him. It is true that I’ve been led astray by the contractors who tricked me into accepting that flat. But what about Jesus? He had lived through worse situations than mine! If He were in my shoes, would He bothers to pray for healing for this wicked neighbor? Definitely, yes!
That was basically what I did. I could not divert my thoughts from sending positive energies to him. Who knows, he may be suffering from the wrong he did to me because I’ve been praying to God to aid me. But I’m not the one to pass judgment. Long ago I chose to pass over my problems to Jehovah, and I have never regretted that I did.
Ever since I prayed for my neighbour, I experience peace. Somehow, my soul is at rest. I may never find the way to get out of that flat to a better place if I choose to remain in dispute with my neighbour. Hatred is a stumbling block to prayer. Now that I found consolation in a God, I hope that my neighbour finds his healing.
Ehiyeh-Sh’Ehiyeh 