The erasure of personal kindness by technology

A Jewish man was walking to another town. He was accosted by robbers and beaten severely. A priest walks by and ignores him. A Levite walks by and avoids him. Then a Samaritan -- and Samaritans and Jews don't get along -- comes by and helps him to an inn, pays for it out of his own pocket, and tells the innkeeper he'll take care of any additional expenses on his way back some days later.

So goes the story of the Good Samaritan.

Nowadays the guy would probably be making the trip in an SUV, so it would be a little harder for robbers to get at him.

And he won't get lost because he's got his Garmin nuvi GPS wizard. No need to roll down the window (or push the button to do so) to ask passersby for directions. Naw, that would be imposing.

If robbers did try to get him, he would have a cell phone to call the cops. Actually, the road would be well-policed anyway, so the chances for trouble are really very slim. Robbers? Come on. Once in a blue moon.

But let's say the guy did get hit by robbers; let's say a crime did occur. (Stupid!). He wouldn't be taken to an inn. He'd be rushed by ambulance to a hospital. And for all the hubbub about people not having medical insurance, at least here in America, the emergency room would be obligated to treat him.

In none of this is a Good Samaritan needed.

Other than the fact that the hospital might be named Good Samaritan Hospital; that may be a possibility.

Because, you see, we are a Christian nation. Our institutions, like schools and hospitals, were once started because of the Christian gospel. And at least the hospitals are still acting like it.

But the irony is that our technology has largely erased the need for us to PERSONALLY be good Samaritans.

Help that old lady neighbor down the street? Well, I don't know. If she falls, she's wired to services where they'd come running at the push of a button. She's got Meals-on-Wheels coming to give her supper. Her adult kids are a cell-phone call away.

She's sitting there on watching her HDTV, which is better than the one I have, for crying out loud.

I'm gonna work on my garden ...

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Luke 10.25-37 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’a; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’b” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two silver coinsc and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”