Thanks to the kindness of my son Michael and his wife Pam, Sandra and I were able to take in the Raleigh performance of the Tran-Siberian Orchestra, TSO for short. This group performed only one show at the PNC and then headed to Greensboro.

I had seen TSO once before. Sandra and I waited for what we see as the highlight of the evening – the performance of “Old City Bar.” This song combines a hauntingly beautiful melody with a compelling story of Christmastime kindness that springs from an unlikely source. The most challenging verse in the song says:

“If you want to arrange it / This world you can change it / If we could somehow make this / Christmas thing last / By helping a neighbor / Or even a stranger / And to know who needs help / You need only just ask.”

According to these words, if we want to see fundamental change in the world, we need to actively seek to be helpful to our neighbors and even strangers who need our assistance. As we start this New Year, I want to tweak that sentiment a bit and offer the most important resolution any of us can make for the coming year.

The words of this song remind me of the lawyer who approached Jesus and asked Him, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied, “Love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul.” Then Jesus added, “The second greatest commandment is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

The lawyer, seeking to justify himself, asked, “And who is my neighbor?” In response, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. A traveler leaving Jerusalem fell among thieves and was robbed, beaten, and left for dead on the side of the road. At separate times, a priest and a Levite passed by the victim without lending aid.

Then a Samaritan came. Now, this Samaritan would have had no reason to help the man in the ditch. Judeans in the time of Christ hated the Samaritans, whom they viewed as half-breeds who deserted the true faith of Israel.

Despite being the target of hatred, the Samaritan showed mercy to the victim, rendering first aid and medical care. The Samaritan then placed the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn. He paid the innkeeper to take care of the victim – and said he would make good any additional expenses when he returned.

Then Jesus asked: “Who was a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?”

The lawyer said: “The one who showed mercy.”

But did you notice that Jesus had changed the lawyer’s question from “Who is my neighbor?” to “Who was a neighbor to the man who fell among thieves?”

The issue is not defining the term “neighbor” to include some and omit others. The issue is recognizing the needs of others and working to meet those needs. We should seek opportunities to “Do unto others” as we would have them do unto us.

Can you imagine how much better this world would be if we put The Golden Rule into action each day of our lives?

Doing unto others – and treating them as a neighbor – means we do not use ethnicity, wealth, education, abilities or disabilities, or worldly success to define who is our neighbor and who is worthy of our assistance. We treat each person as we want to be treated.

To use another literary allusion, in “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice and the Unicorn meet for the first time. The Unicorn looks at Alice and said:

“I always thought they [children] were fabulous monsters! Is it alive?”

“It can talk,” said Haigha, solemnly.

The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice, and said, “Talk, child.”

Alice could not help her lips curling up into a smile as she began: “Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too! I never saw one alive before!”

“Well, now that we have seen each other,” said the Unicorn, “if you’ll believe in me, I’ll believe in you. Is that a bargain?”

Let’s make a bargain this year to treat each other as neighbors – and do to each other as we would like to be treated. I cannot think of a better resolution.

I’ll believe in you. Will you believe in me?

Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.