“Whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” (Luke 10:37).
My favourite Parable in the Gospels is the story of the Good Samaritan…
In the story a Jew – an enemy of the Samaritans – was injured by thieves. And everyone walked on by as though nothing was happening and nothing happened. And only one Good Samaritan stopped to care for the injured man…
“A lawyer asked Jesus, ‘who is my neighbour?’ Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” (Luke 10:25-37).
When I was a little girl, World Vision would run advertisements on television where they would show images of children dying of starvation in Africa. I remember the images well. The children had bloated stomachs and glazed eyes. The flies crawled over their skin and they were too lethargic to shoo them away. And when I was a little girl, I felt great compassion for those children. I felt great compassion for their suffering.
And yet, when my sister or brother is hurting and does something to inconvenience me because they are hurt, my patience is worn thin. When my family who live in the same house as me do something to irritate me because they need something from me I do not have compassion – I have irritation.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta one said that the poverty of the Western world was loneliness. And so, when I consider the suffering of my neighbour, perhaps I need to consider their hungriness for other things. Perhaps I need to consider the way that they need me for my time and attention. Perhaps I need to look around and see who my neighbour is.
For it is one thing to have compassion for a stranger who is physically suffering, and it is something altogether to have compassion for the human beings who I live with who suffer a silent pain.
And so today, I pray for the Grace to be the Good Samaritan for my family. For it would be so much easier to walk on by without ever stopping to help them in the way that they really need…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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