Ordinary Time 19: The Good Samaritan

One of Tim's slides read, "Neighbor isn't a noun; it's a verb, an action: 'to neighbor.'" Spend a little time thinking about and articulating what it actually means to be a neighbor. How would you explain it?

If it helps, get practical and consider examples of neighboring you've seen in your real life. Who has been an excellent neighbor to you? What have they done that makes you say so? What outcomes have been born of those people and their actions?

What things have you done that demonstrate good neighboring? What impact have your own experiences of neighboring others had on you? On your community?

Tim pointed out that, when asked, the expert in the law couldn't even name the Samaritan as the person who was a good neighbor. Instead, he said something like "the one who showed mercy."

He went on to say that this man was probably not a "bad person," but instead someone stuck in a cycle of exclusion and blame.

Think about some of the people that you might consider especially in need of lessons in neighboring. It might be helpful to think not only of groups, but also of individuals if you can. Do you think that these people are "bad people"? Why or why not?

Now consider them through the lens of "people stuck in a cycle of exclusion and blame." How easy or difficult is it to really, fully conceive of them that way? Why do you think that is? Where do you feel resistance to this lens?

Now consider yourself. Think about ways in which you might wish you had been or could be better at neighboring. Do these moments in your life make you think of yourself as a bad person? Can you think of yourself as someone stuck in a cycle of exclusion and blame? Is that easier or more difficult than thinking of others that way? Why do you think that is?

Tim shared two quotes toward the end of his sermon:

"People are hard to hate close-up." ... Brené Brown

&

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility." ... Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Think back to some of the people you thought of in question two as those who might be particularly un-neighborly. Or perhaps others who you might have a habit of despising. What do you know, if anything, of their sorrows and suffering? If you don't know anything, what might you be able to guess? Try to take a moment to form an authentic, dimensional vision of that/those person’s suffering in your mind.

How do you feel considering these people in this light? What resistance do you feel to cultivating compassion for them? Are there places where you feel there should be limits to this kind of consideration? Why or why not?

What is valuable about thinking about people in this way? Is it something you practice? Why or why not?