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From the Pastor&
What people think of me is none of my business!
-Anonymous
We love to label everything and everyone, don't we? We love to distinguish ourselves, by being different from each other; there must be something special about "me". Thomas Merton, an American monk/priest/write, thought there was something special about himself. One day, while in Louisville, Kentucky, to see a dentist, he was standing at Fourth and Walnut and it hit him. He wasn't different; he wasn't special; he was just like everyone else. That was a very great spiritual insight for Merton& all of us are very similar. Instead of looking for our differences, we should be looking at our similarities. Isn't that the message of Jesus? It might not sell in Hollywood or on Madison Avenue, but Jesus was always countercultural.
Of all his stories, I like the one of the Good Samaritan because it is central to his message. Compassion is top priority, more so than religious labels and titles.
A seminary conducted an experiment in which all the students heard a talk on the Good Samaritan. Following the talk, half of the students received a message that their next classes had been rescheduled to an earlier time. As they rushed to their classes, all encountered strangers who appeared hurt or in trouble. The results: none of those who thought they were late bothered to stop and help.
In the original story, it may be that the priest and Levite didn't stop to help the stranger because they were late for a meeting. We can identify with busy schedules, can't we? On the one hand we want to hand on our faith and values to our children, but on the other hand we're too busy. We crowd too much into our already busy schedules. Instead of trying to sneak in religious talks about faith and morals, which probably don't reach our young, an occasional family outing to feed the hungry, to visit a shelter and listen to the homeless, doing something that directly helps people might maximize the impact of Jesus' message-- and strengthen the family as well. Not enough time to do this? Drop a meeting. Turn off the T.V. Take time, make time for your kids.
Babe Ruth played one of his last games in Cincinnati. Although he had his 714 home runs in his career, the great Bambino was no longer as agile as he had been. He fumbled the ball and threw badly, and in one inning alone his errors were responsible for most of the five runs scored by Cincinnati. As the Babe walked off the field, a crescendo of yelling and booing reached his ears. Just then a boy jumped over the railing onto the playing field. With tears streaming down his face, he threw his arms around the legs of his hero.
Ruth didn't hesitate for a second. He picked up the boy, hugged him and set him down on his feet. Suddenly there was no more booing. In that brief moment, the fans saw Ruth, who, in spite of his dismal day on the field, could still care about a little boy. And the boy, who cared about the feelings of another human being. Both had melted the hearts of the crowd.
Winners? Losers? Who is compassionate is important--that's what Jesus taught.
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