In his post today, Jack used this quote, which is apparently from a source (book?) titled 3Minutes a Day – “What do Shakespeare, the Bible and The Rise of Skywalker have in common?” You can read Jack’s answers at
In his post today, Jack used this quote, which is apparently from a source (book?) titled 3Minutes a Day – “What do Shakespeare, the Bible and The Rise of Skywalker have in common?” You can read Jack’s answers at his blog – Jack’s Winning Words. Spoiler alert – all three involve mercy.
One dictionary defines being merciful as “bringing relief”. Using that rather generic and all-encompassing definition, one is being merciful when they put a dollar in the Red Salvation Army Kettle at Christmas. While the definition above is pro-active in nature, mercy may also be shown by what one does not do – swerving or stopping to avoid hitting and animal in the street may be seen as an act of mercy.
All of us have multiple opportunities during any normal day to be merciful – to provide relief. Why then does so much need persist all around us? One reason may be that we have trained ourselves to not see the need, to avert our eyes when we encounter those is need, whether they be the homeless man sitting on the street corner or the co-worker whom we know is going through rough times. We look away because we “don’t want to get involved” or maybe, “I don’t have time for that right now.” How inconvenient of someone in need to impinge upon your life.
Of course, if the shoe was on your foot, instead of theirs, you might wonder how so many people could just ignore your plight and pass you by. It is easier to imagine and maybe accept the excuses that the travelers who encountered the man in Luke 10 had for passing him by. It might be harder to imagine how that man felt as they passed him by, until the Good Samaritan stopped to help. It’s really not that the others didn’t see the need. Indeed, they made a special effort to pass by on the other side of the road, so they must have seen him lying there. They didn’t want to get involved or they just didn’t have time to help.
The point is that we have as a society become more like those travelers who passed by on the other side and maybe worse. We have convinced ourselves that we don’t have time or don’t want to get involved. Maybe we have even become cynical. We may say, “I have my health care that I paid for; let them pay for their own” or maybe “ I don’t want them in my neighborhood because that may decrease my property value.” We find many ways to pass by on the other side and not show mercy- not provide any relief.
Perhaps you would react and provide relief, if only you saw the needs. It is all too easy to send school kids home for the weekend and not be concerned about the fact that they have nothing to eat until the next school day on Monday or to not think about that elderly neighbor that you so seldom see. They are all too often out of sight and