Choose Kindness

The “Good Samaritan” story is familiar to most of us.  It’s the story of how a Priest, a Levite and a Samaritan passed by a man—a Jew-- who was robbed and beaten by thugs and left to die.  The most likely candidate to take of the wounded man seems to be the Priest.  He is after all, seemingly, a godly man, yet he chooses to walk away.  The Levite, another supposed godly man does the very same thing.  It’s clear they saw him, but chose to not take any action. 

Then a Samaritan came by.  This is significant because in those days Jews and Samaritans were enemies.  They didn’t talk to each other or communicate in any way.  The usual tactic was avoidance.  Yet, this enemy of the Jews, chose to give him aid.  What a great role model!  

  Our world is changing in ways most of us would never have imagined.  As “success” is defined by how much material wealth a person can have, we seemed bent on climbing the corporate ladder to the highest rung, as quickly as possible, regardless who we step on during our climb, and even sometimes through other, less than moral ways.  It’s the “way of the world” and totally expected and often accepted!

It makes me wonder what happened to the Good Samaritan thought process!  To find someone who will stop to help another [especially a noted enemy] is unheard of --- or so rarely heard of, if the media hears of it, it’s instant news!  Most of the time, it’s how hard do I have to hit you to get you down beneath me….and oh, while you’re there, I’m gonna give you a good swift kick!

This seems to happen across the spectrum from within families (who aren’t supposed to be strangers at all) to our families within the church.  Not many of us even know our neighbors, except possibly the one who lives right next door!  Relationships are becoming more and more strained as we hover in our own little world, staying connected to our technological devices.  

The ‘web’ is not any safer than intermingling with ‘strangers’, since there’s the added element of being able to skew what we want other people to know or see, via the internet.  This is so prevalent we are encouraged to be wary of people we don’t know and be certain we are careful when sharing financial information or personal information that may be used and abused against us!

God didn’t intend His people to be unkind, mean or thoughtless!  God’s world is defined by light, and goodness, kindness and love.  So I encourage you to reflect on who you call “your neighbor.”  Is the person in front of you at the supermarket, “your neighbor?”  Is the homeless person on the corner, the sick and impoverished of your town, “your neighbor?”  Can we really “choose” who or neighbor is?  God loves all people, and that is what he wants to see in us, as well---regardless of race, color, creed, religious beliefs, nationality or anything that makes us different!

Photo Credit:  https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/kindness.html