The Good Samaritan & the Oscars

I've always really enjoyed watching the Oscars. Great
music, funny jokes, beautiful dresses, and if we're lucky-
memorable speeches.

I was really moved by Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn's
speeches tonight. It made me consider the parable of the
Good Samaritan and remember something my mom told me
years ago. I will save the story for another day, but my mom
ended a little speech to me by saying "Things are different
from the outside looking in. Remember that before passing
judgment." I never forgot that and the older I got, the more
I realized how wise that advice really was. THINGS REALLY
ARE DIFFERENT FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.

I've been thinking about the parable of the Good Samaritan
a lot lately. I have heard that scripture in Luke preached
on so very many times. I've read the background scholarly
advice about how relevant it was that Jesus said the "Levite"
(assistant to the priest), the Priest, or a Jew didn't stop to
help. He used the example that a Samaritan was the only one
that stopped to help. Every sermon I heard and all scholarly
journals refer to the fact that Jews considered the Samaritans
to be from a religion and race that they scorned. And yet, a
Samaritan was the only one that stopped to help. I don't think
it was any coincidence that Jesus had a "man of the law" ask
the question or that he used a Jew and Samaritan to illustrate
his command.

Perhaps, we should remind ourselves of this lesson,
considering the current religious and ethnic tension being
spouted from religious columns and leaders. I think this
parable has very practical and modern applications today,
but that's just me. I think Jesus was saying unless we love
those that have differing religious and even moral beliefs,
then we are not practicing the "love thy neighbor as thyself"
commandment. I remember hearing one minister preach on
this and say that unless we loved the person that was the
MOST UNDESIRABLE to us, as that neighbor, then we didn't
understand what Jesus meant. The stipulations of these
verses are similar to what my mom told me, I believe. I have
found myself taking on the causes of different races and sexes
through the years because I felt compelled and convicted to.
I have my mom to thank for that, I believe.

When I decided to start this blog, I thought it would be a nice
outlet for my political rants. I never dreamed that I would find
myself in the position of erasing several "religious" themed
posts a day. It's certainly not what I had in mind.

I've always been the type to say exactly what I thought. I
think that was born from times when I was in grade school
and being teased about things that were happening at home.
I learned early on to just tell who had done what and then I
couldn't be hurt or embarrassed by it. Perhaps, it has made
me too blunt or opinionated. However, as embarrassed as I
might have been back then, I am just as much or more
thankful for those experiences now. My mom knew what it
was like to have a weakness or to be scorned. I have plenty
of faults; however, being racist, homophobic or unaccepting
of others are not three of them.

Thank you, Mom.