The Good Samaritan: Variations on a theme

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Luke 10

…[the man] said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him…
Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?

Who functions as a ‘robber’ - as did those
who set upon the man traveling to Jericho?

What else, other than possessions, can we be robbed of?
What else can be taken from us?

Hope?

‘Despair’ is related to *désespoir *[in the French language] meaning “without hope.”

Dignity?

Can one be robbed of one’s dignity?
The dignity that is ours, because God endows us with such?

On those occassions, when we treat another with a lack of respect -
when we fail to even ‘see’ another, when we look right through another
  • as if this other had something in common with wallpaper -
    [just ‘background,’ don’t you know…]
-in those moments, when we behave in this manner,
we find that we have something in common with the robbers on the road to Jericho.

The robbers, in this parable, took the man’s belongings and garments.
But belongings can be replaced, and other clothes may be found
  • but how replace hope - or a sense of dignity, to one who has been robbed of same?
    How can we be more like the good and merciful Samaritan,
    toward those who have been robbed of hope, or of dignity, by another?
How do we avoid having something in common with the robbers
whom Jesus spoke of?

How do we offer hope to another, who has been despoiled of same
  • a hope that the world can never offer?

Robbers come in many guises.​

One person cannot think of every variation on a given theme.
If someone can think of an additional variation, I would welcome
the sharing of same.

reen12
 
youtube.com/watch?v=hGStix70S1k&feature=related

The above linked video is directed, I think, to much younger people than
the elder Boomers - we now aged, who know, through experience,
that ‘no’ is not an answer, nor an excuse.
We know more about the word ‘impossible’
than we knew at age 20.
We’ve already discovered, decades ago,
that we are stronger than we think.

Yet it is the part of this song that addresses faith itself that spoke to me.

“I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains,
Hope that doesn’t ever end, even when the sky is falling…”

Dear God, how many instances of this have I seen in my lifetime?

I have found this to be true, through experience.

Hope that doesn’t ever end, even when the sky is falling…"

Is this part of the hope that we can offer to those who have been robbed of hope?

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

To those who reach out to us for some spark of hope, not knowing, maybe, that Hope is a Person.

reen12
 
The video, linked to above, contains a photo of ants
carrying a leaf much bigger than they are.

The point being that we are much stronger
than we think we are.

Apparently, some ants can carry 10 to 50 times their own weight.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Harry may yet find, however, that “Pride cometh before a fall.”

reen12
 
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

Unlike Harry, we may find that God did not create us to carry such ponderous weight, unassisted,
no matter how strong we are.

This may be a blessing. Carrying a burden may eventually bring one out of a self-chosen isolation,
in reaching out to others for help.

reen12
 
So what was with the Levite and the priest who passed on by?
What might they have been thinking?

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
“Damn! If I stop, I’ll have to go to the *mikvah *for ritual cleansing.”
“He is, afterall, a heretic Samaritan. Contact with him would render me ritually unclean.”

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
“Oh, great! This turkey has been mugged, and I had to come upon him.”
“If I stop to help him, maybe those smash and grab artists will do an encore - on precious me.”
“I had better keep going.”

Yet before I cast several more verbal stones - at these characters of parable,
what might I have thought?

“Oh, terrific! If this* jerk* didn’t know enough to travel in a group, on this road,
why should I be the one to bandage him up?”
“I am so sick and tired of these feckless wonders, who give
not a thought to protecting themselves, sticking the rest of us
with the task of caring for them…”

Yet having thought those unlovely thoughts, at least I would have stopped to help, I think.
God would probably think that at least I did end up stopping.

A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go.

Which of the two did his father’s will?"

-Matthew 21

What worries me are the times when I just kept on going.

reen12
 
So what was with the Levite and the priest who passed on by?
What might they have been thinking?

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

“Damn! If I stop, I’ll have to go to the *mikvah *for ritual cleansing.”
“He is, afterall, a heretic Samaritan. Contact with him would render me ritually unclean.”

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

“Oh, great! This turkey has been mugged, and I had to come upon him.”
“If I stop to help him, maybe those smash and grab artists will do an encore - on precious me.”
“I had better keep going.”

Yet before I cast several more verbal stones - at these characters of parable,
what might I have thought?

“Oh, terrific! If this* jerk* didn’t know enough to travel in a group, on this road,
why should I be the one to bandage him up?”
“I am so sick and tired of these feckless wonders, who give
not a thought to protecting themselves, sticking the rest of us
with with the task of caring for them…”

Yet having thought these unlovely thoughts, at least I would have stopped to help, I think.
God would probably think that at least I did end up stopping.

A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go.

Which of the two did his father’s will?"

-Matthew 21

What worries me are the times when I just kept on going.

reen12
 
So what was with the Levite and the priest, who passed on by?

What might they have been thinking?

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

“Damn! If I stop, I’ll have to go to the *mikvah *for ritual cleansing.”
“He is, afterall, a heretic Samaritan. Contact with him would render me ritually unclean.”

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

“Oh, great! This turkey has been mugged, and I had to come upon him.”
“If I stop to help him, maybe those smash and grab artists will do an encore - on precious me.”
“I had better keep going.”

Yet before I cast several more verbal stones - at these characters of parable,
what might I have thought?

“Oh, terrific! If this* jerk* didn’t know enough to travel in a group, on this road,
why should I be the one to bandage him up?”
“I am so sick and tired of these feckless wonders, who give
not a thought to protecting themselves, sticking the rest of us
with with the task of caring for them…”

Yet having thought these unlovely thoughts, at least I would have stopped to help, I think.
God would probably think that at least I did end up stopping.

A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
He said in reply, ‘I will not,’ but afterwards he changed his mind and went.

The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, ‘Yes, sir,’ but did not go.

Which of the two did his father’s will?"

-Matthew 21

What worries me are the times when I just kept on going.

reen12
 
reen12,

Your reflection is very profound. So true that being robbed is not limited to physical or temporal goods and being a Good Samaritan could be extended to emotional and spiritual help.

As we follow the Lord, we ought to keep in mind of being a Good Samaritan in all possible ways within our abilities. But above all is to have a heart. When we have a heart, we will observe people’s needs and see to them. Being a Good Samaritan starts from where we are. Charity starts from home then reaches out to the circles we are in and keeps on keeping on.
 
InLight247 said:
reen12,
Your reflection is very profound. So true that being robbed is not limited to physical or temporal goods and being a Good Samaritan could be extended to emotional and spiritual help.

As we follow the Lord, we ought to keep in mind of being a Good Samaritan in all possible ways within our abilities. But above all is to have a heart. When we have a heart, we will observe people’s needs and see to them. Being a Good Samaritan starts from where we are. Charity starts from home then reaches out to the circles we are in and keeps on keeping on.
Click to expand...
quote:InLight247
But above all is to have a heart. When we have a heart, we will observe people’s needs and see to them.
Click to expand...
Well noted, InLight247.

“Let those who have eyes, see!”

I had been thinking, on and off, of this parable.
It was when I was involved in some simple housekeeping task,
that suddenly, in my mind, came an image of a man beaten and broken,
leaning against a rude stone wall, helpless. In an instant, I understood
that people can end up beaten and broken in many ways. And that
the parable of the Good Samaritan could be - and should be - extended,
beyond a given instance of robbery with violence.

The point that Jesus was conveying, in his parable, was well known,
in the form: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Which one proved a neighbor? The Levite, the priest or the Samaritan?

Yet there are corollaries to this parable. I’m sure that many, many others,
centuries before me, have thought of these corollaries.]
What startled me was how the parable seemed to be ‘flipped’ to another ‘side.’
**

The beauty of the parable is that - rather than a ‘flip’ - it is more like
intersecting spheres, the investigation of which may convey additional meanings.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

As the sphere of this parable rotates 360 degrees, the parable can be seen
intersecting with the ‘sphere’ representing the Hebrew Scriptures.

To wittingly mix metaphors:

“Unpacking” these nested boxes of meaning is, in itself, a part of God’s gift in this parable.

Thank you for your thoughts, InLight247.

reen
 
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