The Parable of the Guy on the Side of the Road (re-run)

As I said my prayers this morning, I was feeling down, and the words that I used to describe how I was feeling were “robbed” and “beaten”. (And they were, perhaps, a bit dramatic.) I didn’t mean them at all in a physical way, and it wasn’t until after I had said them that the connection to the parable of the Good Samaritan came into my mind. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the man on the side of the road had been robbed and beaten, physically. I realized that we usually just try to relate to the Good Samaritan in the story. Suddenly I felt that we should remember that we are all, at one time or another, the guy on the side of the road.

This life can be very hard. There are many ways that we can be, or at least feel “robbed”: robbed of time with loved ones; robbed of experiences we longed for; robbed of opportunities; and “beaten”: beaten by circumstances beyond our control; beaten by the cares and worries of life; etc.

With this in mind, we can each be the Good Samaritan as well. In the parable, the Good Samaritan could see the wounds, and the physical needs of the man were evident. The parable states that the Good Samaritan had compassion on this man and went to him and bound up his wounds, and gave him relief and placed him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Our dear Sister Hinckley has said, “Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a battle." Remembering that, and realizing that the wounds of those around us are often invisible to the naked eye, our “binding up of wounds” and our “giving of relief” must truly be guided by the compassion of our hearts and by the Spirit. Compassion is an attribute of Christ. The more we practice this attribute, the more we will become like Christ. Perhaps that is why there is so much opportunity for practicing this in the world. Perhaps there are so many chances to be both the guy on the side of the road, and the Good Samaritan, because there are so many lessons to be learned from both sides of the street—so to speak.

P.S. I'm really o.k., the Lord, Himself, is very good at binding up wounds when we allow Him to see them. I'm feeling much better. Plus I felt like I got a nice insight.