Robert Frost penned a famous poem, "Mending Wall," beginning with the words "Something there is that doesn’t love a wall." But the line that most people remember is: "Good fences make good neighbors."

That’s not the title of this column today, although it’s legendary. After all, Mosaic law states, "Do not move your neighbor’s property line." But the real issue is not the fence. The problem is not the fence. The subject is the neighbor. And the one I’m referring to is the one on your side of the fence!

Take a close look sometime at the most famous passage in the Bible about neighbors, the story of the Good Samaritan. Notice the questions that bookend this tale. The man who prompts this story asked the question, "Who is my neighbor?" But the question Jesus counters with is: "Which one of these acted like a neighbor?"

Do you see the difference? A change from asking "Who is my neighbor?" to being asked, "Who acted like a neighbor?" Jesus shifted the focus back across the wall _ from inquisitiveness about who qualifies as a neighbor, to you, on your side of the fence. Regardless of who the other person is, are you being a good neighbor?

You may not be able to do anything about who your neighbors are, but you can do a lot about who you are. And that’s where Jesus always starts. With you. He always brings the question back to you. Are YOU being a good neighbor?

The Bible gives us guidance about how to be a good neighbor. Proverbs 3:29 says, "Don’t plan anything that will hurt your neighbor; he lives beside you, trusting you." Paul said the same thing: "Love does no wrong to a neighbor" (Romans 13:10).

Don’t throw your trash across the fence. Don’t turn your radio up too loud. Don’t mow the lawn at 7 a.m. on Saturday!

You could be a good hermit and do that.

But there’s a curious verse in Exodus 23:4 that goes further. Here we find chapters of quaint laws about bulls getting loose and goring neighbors; donkeys falling in uncovered pits; cows getting out; and then this instruction: "If you happen to see your enemy’s cow or donkey running loose, take it back to him."

This is what you are supposed to do for an enemy; even for a bad neighbor! You are to be a good neighbor "¦ no matter what follows. "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." That rule from Leviticus was lifted up by Jesus as the Second Great Commandment. It is the theme of good neighborliness. Jesus phrased it simply for us in the Golden Rule. "Do unto others what you want them to do for you." Be a good neighbor because that’s the kind of person you want to be.

One day, in a little town off the beaten track, a boy was sitting on the porch with his grandfather. A car came rumbling down their dirt road; a visitor stopped, rolled down the window, and called out, "I’m new around these parts, and was thinking of settling down. What kind of neighbors do you have here?"

The old man paused and replied with a question of his own: "What kind of neighbors did you have back home?""Oh, they were crabby, unfriendly, and irritable," the traveler replied. "Well, I’m afraid you’ll find the same kind of neighbors here," the old man said. So the visitor rolled up his window, and drove on.

Not too many days later, the boy and his grandfather were still sitting out on their porch. Another car rolled up, and again, this prospective homebuyer called out inquiring about the neighbors. The grandfather asked the same question: "What kind of neighbors did you have where you came from? "My neighbors were the nicest, friendliest, most sociable neighbors in the world," he replied, "I kind of hate to leave them!" "Well," grinned the old man, "you’ll find the same kind of neighbors here, too."

As this car started up, the little boy, feeling quite perplexed, turned to his grandfather and questioned, "Why did you say two opposite things about our neighbors?" And the old man counseled him, "Most times, your neighbors are like mirrors. They reflect you. Your attitude and the way you act will determine how your neighbors act."

Be a good neighbor, for it’s good neighbors _ not really fences _ who make good neighbors out of the people next door, or around the world.

The Rev. Douglas Deer is pastor of First Baptist church of Cooperstown.