There was this guy. He had just left the bank after making a pretty hefty withdrawal. This man happened to be on the socially conservative side; an evangelical by denomination. He was, for the most part, a good man. Went to church every Sunday, made sure he was titheing, and generally instilled good values with his children at home. This man was walking down the street, when suddenly he was grabbed and pulled into an alley, where a man had watched him walk into the bank, and saw him put the money he had withdrawn inside his coat. The man was beaten severely, beyond recognition. His coat, his shoes, his watch, his wallet and money, were all taken. His shirt was ripped and bloody. His socks were brown, from the dirt on the ground, and now one of his toes was hanging out. All he could do is lay on the ground, barely conscious, and wait for someone to come along and help him.
Some time passed and eventually a Reverend from a church a few blocks away walked by and happened to notice the man. The blood on his shirt was dried up and rock hard. The man looked just like many of the homeless people the reverend had seen on the streets before. Finally, the man was able to muster enough strenth to utter one word, "help..." The reverend looked at him in disgust thinking that whatever had happened to this bum, he probably deserved. So, the reverend turned away, and continued on his business. Again, some time passed, and a priest came walking by, also taking notice of the man. The priest had the same feeling as the reverend before him, thinking the man resembled a bum, and he probably got into a fight over some drugs or booze. He deserved this because of the lifestyle he chose. The priest turned his head and continued on his way.
After a while another man came by. The man was scrawny. He had gel in his hair making the spikes rise about three inches above his head. The front of his hair was bleached, and stood out from the rest. He had on some tight, shiny pants, and a very tight shirt that looked like he bought from the kids section. He was gay, and he wasn't just gay, but flamboigantly gay. When he saw the man laying in the alley, dried blood on his torn shirt, and welts on his face making him indistinguishable, he felt nothing but empathy. He ran over to the man, and tried to find out what had happened, but the man could only mutter, "help..." He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911 telling dispatch what he saw. The gay guy waited with the beaten man while the ambulance came, and did everything he could to make him as comfortable as possible while he laid in the alley. When the ambulance took the beaten man away, the gay guy rode with him to the hospital. He did not know anything about the man, and stayed in the waiting room, until the doctors could tell him he would recover just fine, but they were going to keep him for a few days. The gay guy came to the hospital to check on him everyday he was there.
When the beaten man had finally come to, he was shocked to see who was standing there before him. Everything was a blurr, but he recalled the reverend, and he recalled the priest. And he had a vague memory of this overly flamboigant man holding him while the ambulance was on its way. The day the beaten man was to be checked out of the hospital there was a vase, with the most beautiful flowers he had ever seen on the nightstand next to his bed. In it was a card with one sentence, "Get well soon, and God bless." No name, no address, just those words. The man asked the nurse who had left the flowers, but he already knew the answer. All he could do is lay there and cry. Cry over the feelings he had previously had for the lifestyle this man had represented. This man had shown the qualities of Jesus Christ more than anyone he had ever known. He did not ask for thanks. No reward. Just "get well and God bless."
Tell me the difference between this, and the parable of the good samaritan.
2 comments:
I love it! Couldn't agree more!
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