The Good Samaritan

The good Samaritan is a pretty well-known parable of Jesus. It tells the story of a traveling man from Jerusalem to Jericho who is mugged: his money and cloak are stolen and he is left to die on the side of a road. A priest walks by and immediately moves to the other side and doesn't help. The next man, a Levite (a part of the holy tribe of Israel) walks to the other side of the road and doesn't help either. The third man, a lowly Samaritan takes pity on the man and dresses his wounds in expensive supplies. He even pays to put the man in an inn and covers all his expenses until he is well. This is Jesus' interpretation of a true neighbor, and the way to inherit eternal life.

9:30 at night. Pitch black, raining and in the middle of nowhere--with a flat tire. I was just thinking earlier that day that I was so fortunate to have no car problems so far. I guess pretending to be a New York City taxi driver in heavy construction was a silly idea to my poor old front tires. While I was at a Burger King trying to figure out what to do, a group of people who, by the way they were dressed, I could tell were very religious. I don't want to give away what religion it was as I think it might be unfair to the group as a whole, but I was NOT IMPRESSED.

They watched me try to put a can of fix-a-flat in my tire before the several-years-old can exploded chemicals all over my face, eyes and clothes.
They then watched me empty my trunk, only covering for a few moments my very out of state license plate, to get out a spare tire.
They watched me struggle to see what i was doing in the dark.
They knew I was a young female, in the dark, and alone far from home.
Even so, as one man returned to his truck, he walked briskly by with his head down to pretend he didn't see me. Another lady commented on how annoying it was raining before heading to her car.

Finally, I went up to them to ask them where a tire shop was. They had no answer. "How about Sears?" I asked. "Yes, but they aren't open til 10 tomorrow." "I'll just wait in my car then." I responded and they walked away without even a goodbye. Thank God I have an awesome boyfriend who taught me basic car care so I can function on my own. In the parking lot of an industrial area in front of an independent tire repair shop, I lay half the night shivering and worrying about another flash flood or police and also pondering the story of the good Samaritan. I never really believed a devote person to any religion would fail to help a stranger in need. Why would someone dress in such a manner that it was obvious what their beliefs were, and then fail to adhere to those very edicts? I felt like crying not because I was in dire need, because I managed just fine, but because I COULD have been and I was ignored.

Too bad in Pennsylvania there aren't any Samaritans!

(I suffered many chigger bites that are all over me now to get this stupid picture and none of them really turned out so dang it... one is going on this blog to make it worth it)