This past week I was in Toronto at the Fringe Festival, which is a gathering of about 140 productions all put together over a 10 day period. I decided it was a good opportunity for me to get my feet wet and make my way to the big city all by myself. With going to Knox College hopefully in January 2008 I need to be able to make my way around. I parked at Yorkdale and took the subway downtown and did my thing. It was fun.
As I was making my way through the maze from the mall to the subway station there was a “busker” … for those who don’t know busking is when a person sits on the sidewalk and plays their instrument or performs in some way usually soliciting money … I have heard that people can make great money this way and it is usually non-taxable income!! You can find buskers in any city and on most streets. This has been an age old way of earning money and is seen as getting paid for a service or performance as opposed to simply begging. It is also a way of sharing your talent and your passion.
This man was incredible on his violin. The music was clear and so perfect … and had it not been in such an awkward location I might have stopped to listen for a bit. He was truly talented and skilled at his craft of playing the violin. As one tosses a quarter, loonie or a bill into this man’s case can we see this as being a Good Samaritan?
People sometimes regard buskers as a glorified way of begging. Street beggars who sit with a tin cup and sign asking for handouts do not perform or lend music as a thank you for your donation. With this in mind where is the line between begging and busking?
As I was returning from my downtown excursion and was rounding my way back to the Yorkdale mall my attention was drawn to a woman who was talking with a man in the covered walkway. He was giving her change from his pocket and as I approached them I came to the realization she was begging. She was engaged in conversation with the man and he reached into his pocket, pulled out a bit of change and she thanked him. As I passed her by I felt a surge of sadness that I couldn’t help her myself. Not because I didn’t have money in my pocket to give her but couldn’t help because my question is …. Will giving this woman a hand out really and truly help her? My heart is broken for this open-ended and highly debated question.
READ Luke – Good Samaritan
This text of the “Good Samaritan” is widely known in both Christian and secular circles. You can ask anyone anywhere about being a “good Samaritan” and they can quickly and easily rhyme off what it means.
The text as it is written is a political piece somewhat because it has to do with background and status. The first man who passes by the fallen Jew is a priest and according to my research has good reason for passing him by, it would jeopardize his “priesthood” secondly, a Levite passed him by as well and then the one to help is an archenemy to the Jewish people, the Samaritan who helps and provides first aid for this man. Despite the mutual antipathy (an-tip-uthy) between Samaritans and the Jewish population, he immediately rendered assistance by giving him first aid and taking him to an inn to recover while promising to cover the expenses. My question as I read the parable and relate it to its widely acclaimed and worldly reputation, is how many people could tell me what a “Samaritan” is …. A person from Samaria ….It has come to be kind of like “Kleenex” the branding of the name has taken on ownership of the item. A good Samaritan has come to mean a “good person” or “a person who gratuitously gives help or sympathy to those in distress.” Luke 10:30–37.
This is elementally a parable that Jesus tells in order to make a point to a lawyer who is testing and wanting clarification of what he must do receive eternal life. He asks Jesus but when challenged by Jesus he seems to know the answer. When Jesus asks him to interpret … he clearly states “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind” and to also “love your neighbour as yourself”. Seems pretty simple to me, don’t you think? But this lawyer is not satisfied he further wants clarification of “who is our neighbour?”
We ask that today too don’t we? Who is our neighbour? With all the war and unrest in the world and crime in the streets and fear for our children … we ask how can we be a good Samaritan today? We are frightened to let our children go to the park alone; we are frightened to walk alone at night; we fear opening our front door to a stranger; we drive with our doors locked for fear of a car jacking; we walk in twos; build up our defenses.
With this in mind who is my neighbour and how do I do God’s will and follow in Jesus footsteps? I struggle with this question and it brought it to life this week as I watched this woman in the subway walk begging for money. How can I be a good Christian and do God’s work for her? Is giving her money the answer? It could be for some because maybe that is the only way they know to help. But there are so many ways in society today that we can live the message of the Good Samaritan and love our neighbour as ourselves.
Volunteering your time to a personal passion
Visiting an elderly person who is house bound or who has been placed in a retirement or nursing home
Big Brothers
Big Sisters
Our local church organizations
Helping in shelters
How many have seen the movie “pay it forward”? The story of a young boy who wants to make the world a better place by doing good deeds for people we don’t know and doing it with the thought that by “paying forward” instead of “pay back” will make for a better place. Have you ever pulled up to the window at Tim Horton’s and had the server tell you “that person just pulling out paid for your coffee?” I have …. It was a wonderful feeling of community and I had a much better day having someone do something nice for me who didn’t even know me. “pay it forward” …we can live each day of our lives helping others we don’t even know. Conscientiously keeping forefront in our mind a generativity toward others; a daily concern for the next generation or others in our midst, without a need for kudos, applause, credit or distinction.
I have a story of two men who were in a hospital room together. One was very sick and was bound to his bed, flat on his back. The other man was sick as well but due to the nature of his illness he was sat up in a chair for an hour or so each day to drain the fluid from his precarious and fragile lungs. He would sit and look out the window and he would entertain with what he could see. Looking out the window he would regale the other man with stories of what was happening outside the window. He told tales of the park that was across the road. Beautiful green trees and told of the swings where the children would play. He would delight in telling of the young women walking in the sunshine and their summer dresses blowing in the warm breezes and the stolen kisses of romance when there were couples enjoying time together on the bench under the willow tree. Further he would enlighten the man on his back with tales of the dogs chasing tossed Frisbees and the boys climbing trees, laughter and camaraderie. Such joy this man took in sharing with his friend, enlightening his days, painting a picture for him to see.
One day the man on his back began to feel resentful that he couldn’t see all of this for himself. He didn’t want to witness it second hand, any longer. He wanted to have the window to himself and began wishing for this. One night in the dark the man on his back could hear his roommate gasping for breath and struggling for the emergency button to summon help, he just layed there and could think to do nothing. The next morning it was discovered the man had died in his sleep.
When the man on his back felt a respectful time had passed he asked for the place by the window and he was moved. Once there he struggled and labouriously raised himself up on his elbow to see out the window. When he did and he looked out he was faced with a brick wall.
There are times when we don’t get credit for being a “good Samaritan” and so we need to be sure that we “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind” and to also “love your neighbour as yourself”. As I said, seems pretty simple to me, don’t you think? But we have to do it unconditionally and without praise or regard. Pay it forward, love unconditionally those you don’t know and give with all your heart to unknown faces. These people you help or give to do not have to be distressed and lying in the street for you to trip over, look for them in the faces of everyday people and day-to-day community. Some people are homeless right in front of your eyes, emotionally homeless and you can represent home to them … a word of kindness, a smile in a dark moment, the ray of light in a hopeless situation. Wake up each morning with a new and refreshed reason for living. To be a “Good Samaritan” and know in your own heart that you have done good deeds each night when you turn in. Say “hello” to people as you walk; give them a genuine smile, it could be the only smile they get all day ….
Love your neighbour as yourself and as God intends us to love … unconditionally and completely as we seek eternal life today in the now! Be a good Samaritan in your heart and let God see how much love you have in your heart as you make each day a better day and each day count.
