Thursday, February 13, 2014

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”


Just now I re-read the Bible passage of the Good Samaritan. The story has been on my mind today because I became involved in a Facebook debate concerning panhandlers. I'll post the entries here, deleting the name of one of the contributors and saying, for the sake of full disclosure, that Pat Maasch is my sister. It started with my Facebook post, as follows.


Meanwhile, my local news channel just ran a story about the "problem" of the increasing number of panhandlers. Is it any wonder there are more people out begging for money after long term unemployment benefits were ended? An interviewee actually said there are more beggars because that's easier than finding work. You try standing all day in below freezing weather being judged and humiliated and see whether you wouldn't rather have a job.
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  • at several hundreds a day, one eases into it with cognitive dissonance
  • Peter Baril I never see these people making any money. If it was several hundred a day, I'd be doing it.
  •  I've always wanted to follow one away from their panhandling spot, to see if they get into a Lexus.
    And Yeah Pete, they can make a decent "living", tax-free. Even if it's $10 per hour, that's more like $13 to 17 played against a paycheck with deductions.
  • Pat Maasch Cause and effect-don't pass a jobs bill, keep wages low, end unemployment benefits (which the unemployed ALSO paid into, have lost their jobs through no fault of their own-and have to prove that they're actively seeking work to keep the benefits) and then be angry that people are poor, homeless and asking for quarters on the street. Who/what is the source of these people making several hunderd a day? Rush? Bill? Hannity? Sarah? Regan's fantasy "Welfare Queen" lives on........... .
  • The "pain" of proving one is actively seeking work is the ten-minute effort of posting for two job apps online. Granted one has to have a resume, which takes several hours to get right, but it's nothing to "fake" trying to find a job.
    As far as the wages are concerned, I'm looking up the source, which I believe was 60 Minutes (CBS) some years ago.
    As far my source, I don't believe in believing the opinion of an opiate drug addict who only completed a HS education . . .
  •  Nice assumption, though
  • Peter Baril Bottom line, if you don't want to give something to a panhandler, then don't. but do we help people because they need help or because we think they deserve help?
  •  Does a seventh-generation lazy, able-bodied Welfare-food stamp-WIC-free housing-free mobile phone recipient DESERVE our help? This is NOT connected to the panhandling concept.
  • Peter Baril Where is all this coming from? How does anyone know the history or circumstances of someone standing by the side of the road?
  • Pat Maasch I echo Pete-If you don't want to give to a panhandler--don't. May you never be unemployed with a loss of benefits, may you never be recovering from bad choices that you've made-but honestly wish to better yourself, may no female you know find themselves pregnant and deserted by the person they loved most-and have no options, may nobody you know wish to go to college and be told: "Sorry, there's no help for you.", may you never be so lacking in funds that you don't know how you're going to pay for this months electric bill-or feed your children. May you never suffer any of this--and face the disdain of people who think you are "lazy", a "taker" and getting rich off of welfare money. Welfare does not make a poor person rich-but tax breaks for the very wealthy only make them richer. As for me-I have been fortunate and had a good life-but I was raised to have compassion for and a desire to help people who have not been as lucky as I am-and will continue to be so. I don't see 'lazy' or 'taking' out there, I see despair and want among people not as well of as I am---and greed and indifference among the people far better off than myself. Anyway-peace to you and have a lovely day.




Back to the Samaritan. In the parable, Jesus says the man fell prey to robbers who left him, beaten and nearly naked, half-dead by the side of the road. Both a Pharisee and a Levite saw the man but couldn't be bothered to help him. A Samaritan - an outcast - took pity on the guy, dressed his wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his lodging and meals.


I bet all of us hope we would be as compassionate. Perhaps we think we would do as well as the Samaritan did by the robbery victim. Let me just mention one or two other things about the story, however.


We don't know anything else about the robbery victim. He could have been a good guy or a bad guy. All we do know is that he was in desperate obvious need. Nor so we know a whole lot about the Pharisee and the Levite, except that they passed the half-dead man on the other side of the road - I'm guessing so they wouldn't have to hear his pleas for help - and that they were part of Jewish religious cults and were known for their presumed rectitude.


Finally, we don't know much about the Samaritan, just that he was a nice person and had two pieces of silver on him. Maybe they were his last bits of cash, who knows? My point is that he doesn't know the robbery victim either. It doesn't say anywhere in the story that he questioned the injured man to find out what had happened to him. For all he knows, the guy might have lost a fight that he had instigated himself. All he knows is that the man needs help, so he pitches in and helps.


Panhandlers on the roadside aren't in such obvious need as the robbery victim in the parable. And yes, in a nation of more than 300 million people, there are some folks who want to make only a minimal effort at life, and would rather ask for money than work for it. In fact, in a nation of more than 300 million people, there's just about nothing we can imagine that doesn't happen from time to time.


So, to sum up, should we give money to panhandlers? Does doing so just enable them to live idle lives? Possibly yes, as they say, but probably no. What I do know is that I'll give money to beggars as I'm able to, and won't bother myself about their motivations.

1 comment:

  1. I think it comes down to a case by case basis. Some people are just out to con you, or just want to get drunk. When they give you a song and dance story like "I'm a diabetic and I need to buy some food" in my experience that's usually a lie. Sometimes I do give them money, sometimes I don't. If a guy says, "Do you have a buck just so I can get some coffee over there?" I'll give it to him and watch to see if he actually goes to buy coffee.

    What's better than just giving someone money, if one has the time, is to try to buy them something they need. Hungry? Buy them a sandwich. That's the sort of thing the Good Samaritan did; he brought the beaten man to an inn, bandaged his wounds and paid his expenses. He even offered to come back and settle up if the guy's bill cost more. I remember once I was at a McDonald's (during a blizzard) and this guy came in behind me counting out change asking the clerk what he could get for so many cents. So I handed him five dollars and told him, "Get whatever you want." I don't say that to boast about how awesome I am or anything. But it was a little something I could do that met an immediate need more than just dropping a quarter in a cup.

    But sometimes there isn't time or you don't have the funds. And sometimes it's hard to tell what's genuine. So I actually sometimes pray a little curse over the change I give someone, that if they are genuine it will bless them and if they are lying to me it will not go well for them.

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