The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-11-10
has not read and ssua,sa the greatest
Of books?


1
thou. was neighbor unto him that Eel
sAnd he said. He that showed nero.
on him. Then said Jesus unto him
Go and do thou likewise."--et. Luke \
80. 81.
J, The story Of the good Samaritan Il
one OF our Lords greatest and mos
typical parables. Our very familiarit,
with the parable blinds us to tn.
greatness Of its mingled simpliclty and
depth. and to the greatness OF the
claim 1t makes upon us. We discover
the clue which this parable contain.
to the deep principle OF human con.
4 duct--we might almost cali 1t the philos.
ophy Of life--when we note the parable
does not answer the lawyers question
The question was: who 10 my neigh.
bor?" The parable tells what 10 neigh
borly. Our Lo:d could not teach this
truth by answering the question. For
the question itself was wrong: 1t re-
vealed a wrong temperament OF mind.
The lawyer wanted q definition 50 that
he might know who were his neigh
bors and who were not But Jesus
wished to make no exclusions. He
, could only put the man right by de-
Ginning to answer the question: by TAX.
ing him to wholly new standpoint.
and making him Start there; namely,
BE in your own spirit neighborly. and
then every man will be your neiShbor."
It would be well for ourselves to see
/ an analogy with the light in which
our own impatient questions must be
. viewed by the patient wisdom Of God.
and a reason why they % often seem
to go unanswered.
But in order to know who our neigh
Dor is We must possess the. true spirit
Of neighborliness. It Is the spirit Of
love which knows no limitations. The
natural man tends to look upon his own
friends ana kinsfolk as his neishbors.
and no more. The remedy for this lies.
not In charging these circles or adding
to our lists. SO much rs IN chsnsin8
our whole point Of view. We are to
have, SO to say. a soul OF neighborlt-
ness for man as man.
1t was this revolution in mans way
of looking at his fellows which Jesus
came to accomplish. Beholding human.
ity robbed Of its true nature. stripped
Of its ideal, wounded by its sins. IN
able to rise. He came down to IT, en-
tered it, healed 1t. and restored II. He
was made man. The Incarnation has
made human nature itself sacred. The
Christian. the follower Of Christ.
must therefore see in every man his
neighbor. Il
Turn next to the parable itself-the
application of the general truth. 1t
was the Samaritan who proved him
self neighbor": the priest and the Le-
wife failed in the test: "they passed BY
on the other side" Our Lord, Himself
loyal Hebrew, did not mean to con-
denim the religion Of the priest and
Levite and praise that of the Samari-
tan. He only intended to give reve-
lation Of real religion. and rebuke the
unreal religion. And 1t was left TO a
despised Samaritan to show how
miserabIy they failed who held only
to the form and not to the spirit Of
religion. Do we. in our daily lives. go
about "as one that serves?"
Now, the character Of the servic.
that the true neighbor renders Is al +,
ways the same. It il unselash and
thorough and personal. To have
compassion is not always to be
unselfsh Often we give to the
poor simply to be rid Of the unpleasant
emotion Of pity. Such charity 10 fun
false: 1t is q form Of self
indulgence Or. again. the motive
may be ones own spiritual good To
give aims to relieve ones conscience Or
to acquire credit In the eyes OF God
Is really a selfish act. And so IL hap
pens that cftentimes the true need OF
the poor is better served BY withhold !
ing than oy givine. The service Of the
good Samaritan Is thorough. He dis
Germs and meets all the needs Of the
case. That thinking out 10 not easy;
IL demands time and trouble to decide
on the proper course, and then to carry
it out. TIE Parable OF the Good
Samaritan, therefore. rebukes instead
Of encourages reckless and indiscrim- |;
:nate and needless charity.
The service of the good Samaritan
was personal He himself bound up
the strangers wounds. himself set the
stranger on his own beast. himself
brough, him to the Inn ana took care
of him. Charity is always incomplete
unless Il involves this element Of per-
sonaI service We try to act by deputy.
We give money and let others DO the.
service Bat We must never be satis-
fed with this Each one Of US ought 70
be able to think at once Of some tndi-
viduaI OF family in the ranks OF the poor. !
the sick. the distressed, whom BY per-
sonal shcuwh6 ana care ana act We are