I need a Good Samaritan

Simpson and his donkey, carrying the wounded in Gallipoli

As Christinas, we too easily and too often take the high ground, even in care giving.  We can assume that we are ever the Good Samaritan, giving care, never needing it.  But stand back and think for a moment.  Let us reorientate ourselves and be more in touch with reality.  We too need a Good Samaritan when we are stuck in life.   

Last week, as I closed the door and left my keys inside a friend's condo, far away from my home in a big Bangkok, I thought, "Oh,no!  What will I do now?"  This simple experience reminded me of my vulnerability and forced me to look at caregiving from the side of one desperately in need of care.  It hit me how different that perspective is.  

As one in need of some serious help to regain entry to my friend's condo, I felt lost, not knowing what would happen to get out of this mess and how long it would take.  I felt a level of uncertainty and dependency.  What to do? .  

The one with the power over my life at this time was the one I turned to for a solution, for care - my friend.  In this situation, the caregiver has the power and exercises options.  Yes, the caregiver acts for good for the other, but that does not take away from the sense of powerlessness felt by the one needing care.  In this experience, I naturally realized two insights.  

The great learning for the one cared for is to know that we cannot go it alone, that we need each other and that there are good people in our world, despite all the wrong happening around us.  

The great danger for the caregiver is we can be too self-assured of how good and strong we are.  We can just presume what the other needs and automatically give it, whether the other wants it or not.  This is the temptation to fall into spiritual arrogance.  

As Christians, we are challenged not to assume we are ever the caregiver, having always the power to rush in and fix everything.  We are challenged to look at life from the side of the marginalized, the excluded, the powerless in society.  To see life from the edge and know what it means to be the vulnerable and fragile human beings we ultimately are.  Herein lies great insight and a true gift for the sake of living life to the full.  

This is so for we then remember we are all human and what matters most is not what we do, but who we are, giving of ourselves, for the sake of the other.  We are one together.