samaritan

it's already march. i think i accidentally hit snooze and slept through these past two months. i realized this downtown the other day. me and a friend were picking up a movie at the redbox in mcdonalds (the one on 2nd street specifically), when i got this "grossed out" feeling. i was grossed out by the people there. it was late and the restaurant had its fair share of homeless. even though we were downtown, and not at the classiest mickey d's in the world, feeling that way was not acceptable. my thought process wasn’t a conscious one either. i'm not sure if that makes me more or less guilty. on one hand, i can tell myself, you didn’t consciously judge anyone and you didn’t act on your feelings by giving anyone a bad look or making a negative comment, so no harm done. on the other hand, doesn’t the fact that i inherently felt that way mean that part of me feels superior to others? 2011 was supposed to be a year of inner growth. have i been growing at all?

later that night i was listening to a song about the good samaritan. and you know what i realized? i'm nothing like the good samaritan. currently, i'm one of the other two men. i could imagine it, the two men walked by, one after the other. they looked down at the injured man and thought, he's probably a criminal or something. i shouldn’t get involved. they, being highly esteemed members of society and all, a priest and a levite. they couldn’t imagine themselves in a situation like his. then a samaritan walks by. he felt sympathy (not pity) on the man and instantly ran to his aid. what’s more, he didn’t half-heartedly help him either. if he did the bare minimum to help, you could argue that he was doing it so he wouldn’t feel guilty (essentially helping himself/trying to maintain a concept of himself as being a good person). but no, he went the whole nine yards. he helped because he loved. he was unassuming. his actions were not self-serving. he chose anonymity and didn’t seek praise. his actions really epitomized non-judgment, grace, and humility. keep in mind, this was a samaritan! they weren’t exactly thought of as "god's people" to the jews back then. jesus loved the shock factor, he really wanted to break us of our preconceived notions of others. i'm trying to change lord, don't give up on me yet!