What Happens When a Man Reads Wendell Berry?

I've been reading Jayber Crow by the master story teller, Wendell Berry. In this gripping tale, Jayber, a barber from Kentucky, reflects on his life. What I love about Wendell Berry is that he understands humanity.

I grew up in Cajun Country; that's south Louisiana, Acadiana area if your not from around here. In this area of the world, we work hard and play hard. Because of this, we collect a lot of people, acquaintances and such, but few true friends. What I mean by friends is people I can see and people that I have allowed to see me. I can honestly say that most folks from around here don't have a whole lot of these kinds of friends. Unfortunately for me, this makes it hard to find a wife, which a man in his late twenties ought to do.

My question is this: should we spend our time collecting more people to play with, or should we spend our time really trying to see the ones we already know? God is certainly honored by us loving our neighbors, those people that we don't really see, but I think God is more honored by us trying to see our neighbors.

In one of his epistles, Paul calls us to "one another one another." This is sacrificial love, the kind of love that builds up the Body of Christ. This is the kind of love that only happens when we take the time to see each other.