In theory, it was a good idea. In fact, it was a great idea.

In theory.

It was just the unexpected in the actual application that went a little awry.

Here's how it went: A sister in a Salt Lake-area ward was ill. To help ease the family's burden, the Relief Society, as it often does, offered to prepare a couple of meals for the ill sister's family. The family accepted.

Thinking it would be nice to include the ill sister's next-door neighbor — who was not LDS — the Relief Society president asked the neighbor if she would like to help. The neighbor readily accepted.

That was a great idea.

And all was well, until the neighbor hobbled — yes, hobbled — next door to deliver the food.

The neighbor had, a week earlier, broken her foot. Since her neighbors didn't know about the injury, they had not offered help. There were no bad intentions, just lack of information.

So while the ill LDS sister got help, the injured non-LDS sister did not. Thankfully, the non-LDS sister was a good sport and held no grudges. But still ward members couldn't help but feel a little bad.

When the Savior was asked to identify His neighbor, He told the parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10). In that parable, a traveler falls among thieves and is robbed, beaten and left by the roadside, nearly dead. A priest and a Levite, seeing the injured man, ignored him. A passing Samaritan, however, stopped and gave comfort and care — then ensured that the needy man would also receive extended care.

After telling the parable, Jesus asked His listeners, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him?. . ."

For the honest in heart who heard the parable, the answer was easy: the Samaritan.

The parable well illustrates a great need pressing yet today. We must look beyond ethnic, racial, cultural, economic, religious and other differences to bring love and charity to all of God's children. Yes, Latter-day Saints are a peculiar people and, yes, our beliefs sometimes set us apart from those not of our faith. And we are right to remain uncompromising in those beliefs.

But our efforts to be apart can, if we are not careful, inadvertently make us aloof — giving others the perception that, perhaps, we just don't care about them. For gospel-principle-practicing Latter-day Saints, nothing could be further from the truth. We love all people. We judge not unrighteously. We seek not to exclude, but to be genuine friends to all.

In the story above, we can rest assured that no members of the ward purposely excluded the foot-broken friend of another faith. Had ward members known of her need, they surely would have filled it.

But, unfortunately, we sometimes get so caught up with so many things that we fail to find out much about our neighbors.

And sometimes that gives others the impression that we don't care.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said the Lord "expects we will be good neighbors, kind to others, to those not of our faith; that we will treat them with generosity and love and respect; that when they have troubles, we will reach out to assist them and lift them and help and bless them.

"[Loving others as ourselves] . . . is not easy to do, but we must work at it, and work at it constantly. We must reach out to assist others, and their respect and appreciation for this Church will grow as we do so. The God of Heaven expects us to be helpful to others, to be good neighbors, to be friends to all within our reach." (From Guam member meeting, Jan. 31, 2000.)

This love, friendship and concern requires no program. In fact, it quite literally can't be a program.

And helping those around us isn't a project. In fact, it quite literally can't be a project.

Rather, our actions should spring from a sincere and genuine Christlike desire to love all of God's children. If those feelings and desires aren't naturally found, we should make cultivating them the highest of priorities. For, in the most literal way, we cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellowmen.