Here's a story about how God's Spirit helped one man fight the impulse to pass by on the other side. On September 26, 1944, Ray Hamley, an RAF flying officer, and his crew flying an American-built B-25, dropped bombs on the town of Kleve just inside Germany's border with Holland. Ray was 21 years old, and his bombs that day hit the railroad station, a number of Nazi factories, and the town church. He had an inkling that day that one of his bombs hit the church, but war was war. On the ground that day a young woman in Kleve mourned not only the loss of her church, but the loss of her parents who happened to live in a house next to the church. For the town of Kleve, 647 civilians and 879 military personnel would die before the Second World War was over.

Meanwhile, Ray Hamley went home to England after the war, married his childhood sweetheart, and became the head of a primary school. But then in 1983, someone handed Ray a newspaper clipping that showed how the people of a little town in Germany named Kleve were rebuilding the Church of St. Mary that had been bombed during the war. Something triggered in Ray's memory. He found his old logbook in the attic, and suddenly realized that it had been his bomb that had destroyed the church back in 1944.

An impulse was born in his heart as he thought about that tiny town, and how the loss of their church must have touched those people. But then came the temptation to pass by on the other side. He says he thought to himself, "Come on, Ray, after all, the Nazis bombed innocent children in London and Warsaw; it was wartime; it was years ago; forget it, Ray, and get on with your life; it's not your concern." But thank God, Ray Hamley did not let those second thoughts win out. He wrote to the Mayor of Kleve, asking for the forgiveness of the townspeople, and requesting that his letter be read by the priest at the dedication of the new church building. In 1984, Ray got a reply from the people of Kleve, requesting that he and his family come and see the new church building. But again, those second thoughts attacked Ray, and he could not even answer the letter.

Once more the parish priest in Kleve wrote to Ray, this time with a letter signed by 500 parishioners offering their forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ! Ray Hamley went to Kleve. His visit not only healed old wounds in his life, but brought about reconciliation between Ray's hometown in England and the people of Kleve in Germany. And it all happened because Ray Hamley was able to conquer his second thoughts, and not pass by on the other side! For Ray Hamley, this was a turning point in his life.

In you life you will one day have someone calling out to you for help. Let the Spirit of Christ help you respond as did the Samaritan.