THOUGHTS OF A MONK

“Go and do likewise”

April 10, 2005

My Mother will be 89 in July. Sometimes she passes on to me amusing stories that she thinks are appropriate for the senior set to which she belongs. Often they have broader applications.

This story is about three ladies, one is 95, another 94 and the third 93 years old. They are living together in a two-story house. The 95 year old is upstairs drawing water for a bath. She is about to step into the tub when she stops and asks herself the question: “Am I getting into the tub or getting out of it?”  She can’t figure it out so she calls downstairs and asks: “Am I getting into the tub or out of it?”  The 94 year old at the bottom of the stairs replies, “I don’t know but I’ll come up and help you figure it out.” So she begins to go up the stairs. Half way up she stops and asks herself, “Am I going upstairs or downstairs?” She can’t figure it out so she calls down to the 93 year old who is sitting at a table in the parlor: “Am I going upstairs or downstairs?” The 93 year old in the parlor has been listening to this story unfold and she looks down at the wooden table and knocks on it and says: “Knock on wood, I’m glad I’m not in as bad off as they are.” Then the 94 year old calls out again: “Can someone help me figure out whether I’m going upstairs or downstairs?” And the 93 year old gets up from the table and says: “I’ll be right up to help you just after I see whose knocking at the door!”

How easy it is for us to get distracted from doing the task at hand, even when that task may be helping someone in need.  It is easy to learn the rules we are to live by, but it is much harder to be diligent about putting them into practice. So often I have driven past a person with a flat tire, when I could have stopped to give assistance: And this, despite the fact that I myself have benefited from that very kind of help. One stormy summer evening in Washington DC, I was driving my Honda Civic with 3 other passengers and we were heading from the St. Nicholas Cathedral across town to the Greek parish festival on 16th Street.  It was a typical summer thunderstorm and I decided to cross through Rock Creek Park taking a short cut.  It was already dark, the road was flooded and as we were heading down into the park I heard, two rapid THUMP THUMPS and I realized I had just gotten a flat tire. Actually two flat tires. I had driven over an open manhole that I could not see because of the rain and punctured the front and back left tires. So I was stuck with others in the car and no way to fix the problem. One flat, yes; but two! This was not a well-traveled road and there were no homes or shops nearby.  But lo and behold another car came by and the driver stopped to give us assistance, including giving me his spare tire, which I was to return as soon as I could get my tires fixed. After fixing the car, he gave me his address and off he went.Yes, there are Good Samaritans all around us.

Jesus message to the lawyer in this parable, and to us, is to “Go and do likewise.”  He lays no guilt trip on anyone, Oh you’ve been bad for not doing a better job of this, no, he simply says, go and do likewise. Don’t stew over the past; amend your behavior from now on. And isn’t that what our Lenten Journey is all about, amending our behavior from here on out?  Of course we say,” I have sinned very often Lord, forgive me.” That’s the necessary recognition of where I am, but Christ calls us to move on from there. He challenges us to grow in awareness and in consciousness.  “I’ll be there just as soon as I see whose knocking at the door.” That is where we get tripped up. Putting it off, stopping in mid-sentence and then forgetting what we are about. I’ve noticed that in myself and I’m not 95 yet!

Of course, we can also have very good reasons for not doing something. Both the priest and the Levi had good reasons for not helping the man who was robbed, stripped and left for dead.  If the man was dead and the priest touched him, he would become tainted by that act and would be unable to fulfill his temple duties. The Levite, ever cautious, could have feared that this was a trick, and if he went to help the man, he could possibly be attacked and robbed himself, so he passed by.  In addition, one might say the man who was robbed deserved what he got for being so incautious as to travel on a dangerous road alone. And the road between Jerusalem and Jericho was notoriously dangerous.  It was a winding road that went through narrow passes in a 3000-foot descent from Jerusalem to Jericho. But none of these issues deterred the Samaritan.  He put himself and his money on the line for a stranger in trouble. Jesus asks, who was the one who acted as a good neighbor? And the answer: the one who showed mercy. The good neighbor is known by his deeds not his words or thoughts.

One of the early church fathers from Egypt, Origen, gives an allegorical interpretation of this parable. It is a view of salvation history you might not think of today, but it was not unusual for this type of interpretation to be used by early church fathers. Origen says the man going down the road is Adam; he is leaving paradise, that is Jerusalem, heading down to the world below, Jericho. The robbers are the hostile powers, that is, the evil that is all around us, the priest is the law, the Levite the prophets and the Samaritan is Christ.  The wounds the man suffered are his disobedience. The beast of burden that carries the wounded man is the Lord’s body, the stable where he is taken is the church which accepts all, the two denarii are the Father and the Son and the manager of the stable is the head of the church to whom its care is entrusted. When the Samaritan promises to come again this is Christ’s second coming. The fact that the Samaritan takes pity on the man fallen among thieves shows us that Christ is a closer neighbor than either the law or the prophets. Origen also says this parable is telling us that it is by deeds rather than words that we should imitate Christ. So, whether we take the parable on its own terms or as an allegory of salvation history, we arrive at the same place. To gain eternal life we too must become like Christ and act as the Good Samaritan did.