"I just knew it was going to be that kind of a day! I got started late. The people I was traveling with decided to go on without me. My donkey came up lame. And the beggar at the gate of the city warned me that the road to Jericho could be a dangerous place.

"But I had to go. I was already behind schedule, and you know how those things go. I was supposed to be in Tarsus by the end of the month. I hadn't seen my family in weeks. So, I did what I knew I shouldn't do and headed for Jericho. I wasn't more than a couple of miles out of town when I noticed that things seemed a little too quiet. Then, it was over almost as quickly as it had started. There were five or six of them. They took everything I had, the donkey, my money bag, even my cloak and sandals. And what's so silly -- if they had asked, I would have given it to them. I think they thought I was dead when they left. I know I was unconscious.

"Society has become so violent. It's happening everywhere. Children don't respect their elders. People push and shove. City streets aren't even safe anymore. We're losing the old ways -- no more manners, no respect. It's just hard to understand.

"Anyway, when I finally came to, I was so sore I couldn't even move. Blood had dried around my mouth and eyes from a cut on my forehead. The sun was so hot. I could hardly breathe. Then I heard footsteps. I thought it might be the thieves coming back to finish the job, but as I squinted up at the sun, I realized it was a priest heading up towards Jerusalem. He looked at me and just shook his head. I could hear him muttering something about the sins of the father being passed on to the sons and grandsons. He said a prayer as he passed. Then he mumbled something about having to stay pure for worship. He moved on.

"A little later, more footsteps. I moaned a little, thinking that it didn't matter whether it was help or the thieves. If it was the thieves, they could finish the job. If it was help, maybe they wouldn't think I was dead. As the footsteps got closer, I could see it was a Levite. He was probably on his way to work. My moan startled him. He looked like a mouse of a man. He looked me over like someone looking over a pile of old rags on the side of the road. He had the most pained face, somewhere between pity and disdain. At first, I thought he was going to help. He stayed over on the other side of the road, but squatted down low, looking at me carefully. Then he shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and said in a loud voice, 'Yea, though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I shall not fear, for you are with me,' and walked on.

"I had given up hope. The road had few travelers. I figured that two people in such a short time was about all I could expect. The day was really heating up. I knew that if I didn't get out of the sun, I would be dead before sunset. I understood why the two hadn't stopped. I don't know if I would have stopped if I had run across a similar situation.

"I was getting delirious when I thought I heard the hoofbeats of a donkey. My first thought was that it was my donkey returning. Then I heard a man's voice stopping the animal. By this time, my eyes were so swollen that I could not see who was there looking at me. But in a matter of minutes, I felt water being poured over my lips and face. A gentle hand began to wash away the dry blood. A blanket was stretched out over me, cutting off the burning rays of the sun.

"I felt my arms and legs being lifted up and bandaged, heard cloth being torn to make splints to secure my broken and battered bones. More water and more movement followed, and the blanket was wrapped gently around me. Then, I was being lifted up by strong arms, and I heard that voice again, steadying the donkey as I was placed upon it. Then, there was the slow, careful journey towards somewhere. I could not tell where. I lost consciousness again.

"When I awoke, my eyes were able to open, but I was in a small room, too dark to see much of anything. But I could hear voices out in the hall beyond the door of the room. 'Innkeeper, I don't know what his name is, but he needs to rest. Take care of him. Here is some money to care for him. I have to be on my way, but I will be returning in a week or so. If you will keep track of anything else you spend on him, I'll give you money to cover his care.'

"A few days later, I was up and around, sore as all get-out, but alive! I got word to my family so they wouldn't worry anymore. I found out from the innkeeper that the man who saved me was a Samaritan, a businessman like me who was just passing through when he found me.

"What's amazing is that I am a Jew. Jews and Samaritans don't get along very well, you know. He had no reason to stop and help. He could have felt justified in passing by, like the other two, but instead he stopped and helped. It's hard to figure.

"I don't even know his name. I'm tempted to hang around and see if I could meet him and thank him, but I'm going to have to get back to my family so I can finish up my healing. I've left a note with the innkeeper, expressing my gratitude, but that hardly seems to be enough. It's amazing! He treated me like family -- no, even closer than that, like a brother! Yet I was a total stranger to him. All I can do is thank God that he came along when he did and that he was willing to go out of his way to help. It's nice to know there are some good Samaritans out there in the world. And I think I'm going to be a better Jew from now on.

"One of the things I learned is that having religion is no guarantee that it's going to affect your life. You can have faith, but if you don't live it out, something is missing. Faith has to be alive if it's going to be faith. There is something about the call to love that is more important than being able to follow the rules. I could be really mad at those two who passed me by that day, but I realize that if this hadn't happened to me, I would probably have reacted just like they did. I would have assumed that it was just God paying back a sinner for some awful sin.

"If I had seen a Samaritan lying by the side of the road, I probably would have thought to myself, 'Good! He probably deserved it.' Today, I could not ever think that. I know that if it is someone who needs help, that's all that counts. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people. All I know is that if I can help, I'm going to do it."

It is the story of the Lone Ranger set in ancient times. Someone who does good for no discernable reason except for the fact that there is good to be done. It is a story that has impact upon both Christians and non-Chrisitians, a model of sacrificial giving that goes beyond being a good neighbor and borders on sainthood.

What most of us would give to have a neighbor like the good Samaritan or be like that kind of a neighbor! And how easy it would be to do it. It would mean placing others ahead of self. It would mean loving our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. It would mean putting our Christian faith into action.

Perhaps the greatest question we have to ask is why we do not do it. Why do we fail to be good neighbors? Is it fear that stops us? Fear of rejection, fear of a loss of self, fear of disapproval by our friends for senseless caring, fear that we might get too involved? Probably, all these fears and more are part of why we can't become the good Samaritan.

Is it our lack of love that keeps us from being that kind of neighbor? Afraid that our love will run out if we use too much of it on strangers? Afraid that love will not keep us from being hurt?

Perhaps the greatest obstacle is the incredible cost that being that kind of a neighbor would require. We would have to lose our pretenses, have to give up our pride, need to realign our priorities and live the kind of faith that Jesus requires of us. That would put us in a very different relationship with the world around us. We would have to give up being right, and start being faithful.

Heed the words of Jesus as he speaks to the teacher of the Law, "Go, then, and do likewise."