Good Samaritan

You are all familiar with the Biblical story of the good Samaritan. In one of the "Parables of Jesus", the only one of the several passersby to help or come to the aid of a Jew who had been robbed, beaten and left to die in a roadside ditch, was a man from Samaria. This admirable act of kindness was particularly note worthy because the Jews and Samaritans were generally enemies. When Jesus urged his followeres to 'love thy neighbor', he was asked, "Who is our neighbor?" He used the parable of the Samaritan and the Jew and forced his questioner to admit that the Samaritan was truly a neighbor of the man who was in the ditch. So people who go out of their way to perform acts of kindness are figuratively considered Good Samaritans.

Having said all of that, I think everyone likes to be considered a Good Samaritan, it makes one feel so noble, sometimes even superior. How rewarding it is to be able to give assistance to someone in need. The person in the checkout lane in front of you that is short a dollar or two and you quickly say, " Here, let me help you out." or the person burdoned down with packages that you offer to help carry. One time I came out of Krogers and it was teeming rain, there was a woman standing in front of the store with a full baskart of groceries and no coat, hat or umbrella. She was trying to get up the courage to go out into the rain to get to her car at the far end of the parking lot. I had an umbrella, so I offered to watch her groceries while she used my umbrella to run to her car. She could then drive up to where I was standing, sheltered, and load her groceries into her trunk and then give me back my umbrella. She was overwhelmed with my random act of kindness and thanked me over and over. I got my reward by the pride I felt for having had the opportunity to help her. Good Samaritan on a tiny, tiny scale but nevertheless it made me feel good.

Lets talk about the other side of the Samaritan acts. Have you ever thought of the' person in the ditch?' How does it feel to be the recipient of the kind act? Especially if you are a pretty strong, self reliant person that has not often been in a position of need. It feels good to be the Samaritan and filled with pride but to be the person in the ditch and be filled with humility and humbleness is a whole different aspect.

Speaking of people in the ditch, one time Brian, Doc and I were out riding our bikes. We were trying to cross Breckenridge Lane at Sudbury. They have a light at that intersection now but did not have one at that time. The speed limit is 40mph on Breckenridge, so it was a very hairy position to be in. We watched closely and finally saw a break in the traffic and went full speed ahead to get across. I was in the lead and Brian behind me and we thought Doc was bringing up the rear. We cruised about a block and a half when suddenly Brian said,"Stop! where is Daddy?" He was not behind us and we could not see the intersection but we turned around and went speeding back to see what had happened. Doc had toe holders, or whatever they are called, on his pedals and his foot got trapped and he could not get his foot out and he fell into the ditch by the side of the road. We neither saw him or heard him when we went forward. It goes without saying that he was infuriated! We quickly helped him out of the toe traps and got him up and on his bike again but believe me he did not thank us as Samaritans! He was sure the whole thing was our fault because we did not look back as we were fleeing. He yelled for about five blocks before he simmered down and would listen to our comments. When we got home he took the toe things off and discarded them and thereafter referred to them as toe traps. He finally admitted that we were not at fault and we all lived to ride another day! Tough to be the guy' in the ditch' and get over the humiliation and be thankful. Ciao