WWJD

So!  I have this neighbor who lives behind me - educated, attractive, well-groomed, healthy (apparently).  She is a member and attender of one of the most prestigious churches in the area - for all appearances, a Christian.

And yet she doesn't have one kind word for any of her neighbors.  She certainly hasn't had one for me in the 20 years I've lived here. Comments from the neighbors about her range from "petty"... to "crazy"... to "mean spirited _____".

She regularly reports (real and imagined) property infractions to the County (and yes, I'm one of those receiving a visit from a County official - and at least some of my infractions were real). 

Recently, she had flood lights installed on the back of her house.  They don't point down at her property.  They point directly into my back windows.   I thought briefly about contacting our friend, the County inspector.  But being a "live and let live" kind of gal, I just close my room-darkening curtains in the bedroom and enjoy the fact that she's lit my back yard nearly as well as she's lit her own.  So, go for it, neighbor.  Light the world! 

Her yard is near-perfect - an apparent metaphor for her life.  She works hard on it, spending hours and hours raking, mowing, brushing, blowing, sweeping, tidying.  And yet I've never seen her sit on the beautiful bench in the back of her yard and read a book or enjoy her lunch in the beautiful setting she's created.  It appears to be much more about appearance than function.

There are days I'd love to fill my back yard with plastic pink flamingos and barbed wire "art" and wait to do battle with the County representative who would almost certainly come to visit.

But most days, I wonder what makes her so unhappy.  Where does the anger come from?  What hurts?

As I sit here, looking out my window at her house and yard, I wonder if there is anything I can do to make it better (other than landscape my yard in like fashion - which I'd love, but can't afford - and would do myself if I were physically able.)

Thanksgiving has passed.  Christmas is on the way. 'Tis the season to be all about peace, love, forgiveness.  What would Jesus do???