The Parable of the
Great Samaritan
A man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when thieves
robbed him, attacked him and left him for dead. First, a priest came down the road, but he passed by and
kept riding. Then came a Levite,
who also walked away without helping the man.
Then came a Samaritan, who took pity and showed him mercy. He said, “My friend, let us find the evil
men who did this to you.”
“The robbers?”
“Oh no. We’re never going to catch them. And besides, they’re probably poor, disenfranchised men who are
just trying to provide for their families. I mean the Levite and the Priest. We can make an example out of those wealthy, privileged, blind-eye-turners.”
So they hunted down and found the Levite and the Priest in
their respective hometowns and publicly shamed them. “Why could you not be bothered to help? Do you lack basic human decency?” Those two would forever be remembered as
the lazy, self-interested men who would not help their brother in need. The Samaritan considered posting their
home addresses online, but that would be overkill.
Even though the man was still suffering from the internal injuries
he sustained at the hands of the robbers, the Samaritan was proud. By holding a mirror up to society he
had been a good neighbor not only to the man, but also to the world.
The Parable of the
Non-Prodigal Son
There were two brothers. The younger did not want to follow in the footsteps of his
family’s patriarchal establishment, so he took his inheritance early and left
home. Confident that he would
succeed, even without a clear plan or skill set, he went off to San Francisco.
Unaware that rent and Outside Lands tickets were quite so
expensive, he soon squandered all his money. After exhausting all of his
couch-surfing options, he bit the bullet, returned home, and asked for
forgiveness. His father smiled and
embraced him. “Let us have a feast
and celebrate! We shall kill the
fatted calf!”
The older brother, returning home from a long day at the
family business, was stunned. “Seriously,
Dad? I have been working diligently
every single day and you’ve never thrown me a party. Whatever happened to
loyalty?”
“But, you see, your brother was once
lost and now he is--“
“No. No. This is
bullshit. If you just let him walk
back in as though nothing has happened, I will quit and go off to work for our
rival insurance conglomerate. They
will value the consistent excellence that I bring to the table.”
The Father, realizing that actions should, in fact, have
consequences, canceled the party and instead offered his younger son a low-level
position in the mailroom (which he turned down).
The Fatted Calf lived to see another day.
The Parable of the
Liquid Assets
A fund manager was going away on vacation and called in his
three top brokers. He entrusted
them each with the same amount of capital and told them to invest wisely. Time passed and the manager returned to
settle accounts. The first broker reported,
“I put mine in housing and so far it has doubled in value.” The second said, “I invested in a hedge fund and have currently tripled my balance.”
The third broker buried assets in gold, a money market
account and government bonds that paid 6.5% annually. The manager scolded the third. “You wicked and slothful man! You played it safe.
You are worthless!” Thusly,
he fired the broker and cast him out into the darkness.
Days later, the sub-prime mortgage market crashed and the third
broker’s assets were the only ones left with any value. The company attempted to rehire him,
but he had founded his own firm and had no interest in returning to a sinking
ship.
The Parable of the
Greatest Samaritan
There once was a Samaritan who did a good deed for another
man. Not going to say what it was
and won’t go into detail about the act of kindness because that isn’t the point
of the story. What is important is
the fact that he was a good man, he helped someone in need, and was very humble
about it.
Yet not wanting to hide his light under a bushel, the
Samaritan posted the following on his Facebook wall: “Guys, today I helped
someone that I didn’t even know. I
don’t want it to sound like I’m bragging so I won’t tell you all about it, but
I want to share that it felt amazing to be selfless. Go and do likewise.”
The post garnered a colossal number of likes. Despite the Samaritan’s insistence
otherwise, people wanted to know more.
After much pleading in the comments section, he finally shared details about
his gallant, noble deed. Again, the
specifics of his heroics are not important. All you need to know is that this Good Samaritan assisted
someone in need purely because it was the right thing to do.
Word spread across all platforms. And one day, Jesus himself read and shared his story, reblogging
it to all his followers. The
Samaritan’s tale went viral, rewarding his modesty. For although humility and kindness are the highest virtues, if
you don’t spread the message, you aren’t truly being a good neighbor.
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