Love this parable and this struggle; and the way that I have resolved it is to see the need; not the person. I can buy a sandwich for a starving person. I won’t give money to a grifter.
I grew up in a world where we were taught to respect our teachers, elders, law enforcement, et al. Then after repeated disappointments and recovering from the consequences I let the pendulum swing in the other direction
Yes things have and still are changing for the better but we have also become more tribal. I live in a gated community surrounded by neighbors: some who are like me; many who are not. Most I couldn’t have this conversation with.
Most days I find myself moving between all three. I would like to think I am the Samaritan. More often I discover I am the priest or the Levite, finding reasons to keep walking. And occasionally I am the man in the ditch, dependent on mercies I cannot repay.
I have often wondered what the Samaritan would have done had he come across the victim while being beaten and robbed rather than after…
Beautifully said. "Mercy is what crossing the road looks like." Thanks to Rico McCahon and to The Cornerstone Forum.
Love this parable and this struggle; and the way that I have resolved it is to see the need; not the person. I can buy a sandwich for a starving person. I won’t give money to a grifter.
I grew up in a world where we were taught to respect our teachers, elders, law enforcement, et al. Then after repeated disappointments and recovering from the consequences I let the pendulum swing in the other direction
Yes things have and still are changing for the better but we have also become more tribal. I live in a gated community surrounded by neighbors: some who are like me; many who are not. Most I couldn’t have this conversation with.
Where do you see yourself in this parable?
Most days I find myself moving between all three. I would like to think I am the Samaritan. More often I discover I am the priest or the Levite, finding reasons to keep walking. And occasionally I am the man in the ditch, dependent on mercies I cannot repay.