We’ve established that, even if Jesus didn’t exactly intend his parable to point directly to the kind of Samaritan he would be, he would make an “Ideal Samaritan.” Looking at the way he treats thrashed people, if we’re honest, we see how far we are from that ideal and might even consider ourselves “Inadequate Samaritans.” …
Inadequate Samaritans
In two earlier posts I introduced the concept and context of the parable of the Good Samaritan. I talked about to be like Jesus is to be like the kind of “Ideal Samaritan” he was. Let me take this a little further and identify, like the law expert with whom he shared his parable, we …
The Ideal Samaritan
They were talking about the greatest command of all when Jesus revealed to the loophole seeking Bible scholar how he rolled as a God-and-people-lover. I think, with the Samaritan story, Jesus was, in essence, saying, “Here’s how I love my Father and my neighbors. I go out of my way to serve them.” Though I …
The LIBEL of LABELS (Part 1 of 2)
When he was a child, a friend of mine whose Jewish parents and he were on an elevator with an African-American man said, “Look Mommy, a Schvartzer!” which is a pejorative term, in the category of the “N word.” His mom shushed and rushed him off the elevator at the next floor. Kids don’t know …
Countdown to Black Friday
Halloween wasn’t even over when I received my first “Countdown to Black Friday” notice from all manner of insidious sources. Since I hide my darker side from public view fairly well, you might think I’m a pretty nice person, but I confess to a flood of peeved thoughts, none of which involved anything that would …
