More dust of Rabbi Jesus

I was excited today to hear from the author of "Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus," and to know that I have her blessing as I read and blog about her book. That means a lot to me.
Final thoughts on Chapter 4 and loving your neighbor: When we do not love our neighbors because we say they are unworthy, by fiat we are saying "But I am worthy." Problem is, we're not. None of us.
Thus, treating our enemies with compassion is both difficult and powerful. Definitely not a sign of weakness, as some would have us believe.
Questions at the end of the chapter: Are you more at home worshiping God alone or with others? I would have to answer the latter, as a Catholic. Even though Catholics may seem more alone, even in public worship, I think that's an illusion. And the outward display of community is more obvious now than in the past. I prefer the "we" and "our" but our liturgy is reverting to "I" and "me." Not sure how that will shake out in the end.
Why do we need to live out our faith in a community? Because we need each other. And more importantly, because it is clear from Scripture that our relationships with each other, how we treat each other and how we interact, is indicative of how we relate to God.
I once wrote a column about how we should see Christ in each other and what a better world it would be if we treated others the way we would treat God. I got a reaction to that, a letter to the editor (which I printed, by the way) claiming that I was basically nuts, that if we saw God in each other and behaved accordingly, there would be more violence, more rapes and murders and assaults. I still do not understand what he meant by that.
Other questions at the end of this chapter are more difficult. What kind of neighbor am I, literally, as in relation to the people who actually live next door? Well, I am friendly-ish but do not really know them. We wave but that's about it. We have neighbors elsewhere in the neighborhood, even across the street, with whom we are better acquainted. So I'm not sure really how to answer that question. I'm not sure I am required to become close friends with people just because they happen to live next door. I do not bother them, there's no hostility and I'd help them if they needed it, but that's about it. People I've disliked? I'd have to think on that for awhile. How NOT to love others? Seems obvious. Be disrespectful. Deliberately snub them. Ignore them when they speak to you. Interrupt their conversations as if they were not speaking at all. That sort of thing.
There's another saying that wasn't mentioned in the chapter (and is not scriptural) but seems apt:
To have a friend, be a friend. A variation on the Golden Rule.