Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan in the context of being asked by an “expert in the law” what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus throws the question back onto the man, asking him “What is written in the law?” to which the man replies “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27 NIV) After telling the man that he has answered correctly, this expert then asks “And who is my neighbor?” The well-known story of the good Samaritan follows, where a priest and a Levite both ignore a man who has been beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the side of the road, but who is then helped by the Samaritan. In a study done with seminary students at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1973, Darley and Batson found that students, even after being reminded of the story of the good Samaritan, were likely to ignore a person in need if they were in a hurry. This doesn’t speak highly of our altruistic impulses if we are only willing to help when it won’t inconvenience us, but we all know the struggle of wanting to help someone but feeling that our other obligations are a higher priority. Perhaps the moral of this story is not simply that we should be willing to help a stranger in need (who is after all, our neighbor), but more importantly that we shouldn’t be in such a hurry. Slow down and take time to notice the needs of those around you. – Christopher Simon
