Hello everyone, how are you all doing today? Today is Sunday and it marks the end of the weekend and the beginning of the new week. As of tomorrow we will go out and resume the hustle, working hard to make ends meet.
As we go out there into the world, interacting with our friends and colleagues, socializing with strangers, I would like to bring to mind the holiday for the day that we will be observing. Celebrated on the 13th of every March, it is called National Good Samaritan Day.
As we all know, the phrase “Good Samaritan” is based on a biblical parable. And the day is set aside to remind us of the reasons we have to be selfless in our dealings with others. When we see people in need of our help, we are supposed to help with the little that we can, and in the capacity that we can afford.
The parable of the Good Samaritan can be found in the bible, in Luke Chapter 10 from verses 30 to 37. It was Jesus’s response to the question, “who is my neighbor?”. He told the story of a Jewish man that was attacked while he was traveling, he was beaten so bad that he was left almost dead. A priest and a temple assistant had walked past, ignoring the injured man. Until the Samaritan had come along. It was this Samaritan that felt compassion for the injured man, took him to the inn, and took care of him, even going as far as paying the innkeeper the next day to look after him.
Now, know that during this time, the Samaritans and the Jews were not on the best terms. At that time, they lived in the Northern part of the Kingdom of Israel. Their relationship was so bad that they could not even speak to each other or walk past each other when they were in town.
And knowing all this, the Good Samaritan threw away all differences when he saw someone at the point of death needed help.
While the parable in the bible inspired the name of the holiday, the holiday itself and its push to be observed were linked to the tragic murder of Catherine Genovese who was killed in New York in the year 1964. The murder had taken place close to her house, just a walking distance. Now, during the attack, she had been all alone. If someone had intervened, anyone at all, she might not have died on that particular day.
This day is important because it reminds us to have the interests of our fellow humans at heart. The world may not understand, seeing as selfishness and greed seems to be the order of the day. But it does not matter, you know the right thing and you will not let the world change you.
Also, by being a Good Samaritan, I am not saying you have to kowtow to everyone’s will at the expense of your own personal plans and goals. You do not have to give up your dreams because of someone else. What I am saying is that when you see someone that is in need of genuine help, you should help out the person however way you can.
Most of the time, it does not require too much sacrifice. And in return, the person will never forget your act of goodwill.
So, my dear friends, as we go forth into the coming week, I beseech us to try and do a good act. Put a smile on someone’s face and make someone happy. It is always refreshing to see people happy and know that it was because of something you did.
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Thank you for reading, till we meet in the next post.
