Well these pages sure have been quiet lately. It's been a hectic few weeks, and blogging is one of those things that so easily gets pushed to the backburner. This week is no exception to the hectic-ness, but I just had to share a short thought.

Often I see articles such as this recent one on CNN about people helping other people. They're great stories, make no mistake. People should be commended for their willingness to help, even at their own expense. And so often (like this CNN one that caught my eye), these stories make reference to the Biblical parable told by Jesus (found in Luke 10:25-37), calling these altruistic people "Good Samaritans".

I've always found it rather odd and somewhat amusing that this label is used so often. I understand that part of the point of Jesus' parable is that this Samaritan man stopped to help when no other person - and more specifically, neither a Jewish rabbi nor Levite - would stop to help. And that's the part that these news stories focus on, which is great. But this title of "Good Samaritan" is not one that I would want applied to me if I ever had this type of story written about me.

Why is that? Because the other primary point of Jesus' story was to shock the Jews. Jews despised Samaritans. Samaritans were considered "half-breeds" and people not worthy of God nor of anyone else. For Jesus to make a Samaritan the hero of His story would have been offensive and shocking to His audience. Not only would they have thought that the rabbi and Levite were justified in not helping this man (it would have made them ceremonially unclean and therefore unable to perform their religious duties), but there was no way a Samaritan should have helped.

It's an amazing story about grace, but the phrase "Good Samaritan" would have been an oxymoron to Jesus' listeners. Samaritans couldn't have been "good". Those are two words that shouldn't go together.

That's why I chuckle a bit each time I read this description. I wonder to myself, "do they realize that they have insulted this heroic person just a little bit by calling them a 'Good Samaritan'?" They're not trying to say this person shouldn't have helped, that he/she is an outcast in society, and that it's shocking that this person did help someone who was their earthly enemy. But that is exactly what the label "Samaritan" was supposed to convey.

The same goes for the most over- and mis-used Bible story in mainstream culture today: David and Goliath. But that's a thought for another time...

Anyway, that was just my deep thought for the day. I hope Jack Handy would be proud.