2013-07-11 Daniel Daring 2013 articles 2012 articles
15th
Sunday: Who
is my neighbor?
Deuteronomy 30:10-14; Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 10:25-37
“For more than half an hour thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.” Thus Martin Gansberg begins his narration of the shocking incident of 1964 in which twenty-eight-years-old Catherine Genovese was being murdered from 3.20 am till 3.50 am on the street of Long Island (New York), while her neighbors watched through the windows of their closed apartments; none of them called the police. Psychologists call it the bystander effect, a phenomenon of excusing ourselves from getting involved in an emergency situation by rationalizing that other people will do it. Asked by the police why they did not intervene while hearing the cries for help, the neighbors responded: “We thought it was a lovers’ quarrel;” “We were afraid;” “I was tired; I went back to bed.” Sociologists call it public apathy, a phenomenon of not wanting to be bothered by others people’s life-problems.
Christianity is known as a religion of love. The greatest among all the commandments is that of loving God and our neighbor. Jesus indicated that love is the way to salvation. “Do this and you will live,” said Jesus to an expert in the law asking about the means to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-28). Knowing all that, however, does not prevent us from slipping into the bystander attitude or public apathy. Why? One part of the blame is placed on our ‘always-in-a-hurry’ attitude. We are so in rush these days into our responsibilities and duties that we do not find the time to stop and see the people around us crying for help. The other part of the blame takes the syndrome of compassion fatigue. We have been overwhelmed by so many requests for help that we cannot bear it any longer; our hearts have become hardened. But we tend to forget a simple truth. One day it will be us who will cry for help. Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984) poignantly captured the risk of public apathy: “When they came for the communists, I was silent, because I was not a communist; When they came for the socialists, I was silent, because I was not a socialist; When they came for the trade unionists, I did not protest, because I was not a trade unionist; When they came for the Jews, I did not protest, because I was not a Jew; When they came for me, there was no one left to protest on my behalf.” It backfires.
Jesus once said, “do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12). We call it the Golden Rule, and like everything that is golden, we seldom use it in life. Yes. We would love to act like the Good Samaritan, but it is too demanding and time consuming. We have to get out of the crowd, risk unexpected consequences, and spend our resources. Yes. It is risky; it is demanding. But, is there an alternative? Rushing to our business, experiencing the compassion fatigue or even feeling hopeless at the amount of pain and suffering around us are poor excuses from getting involved to help others. A Chinese proverb says that “a single spark can start a bush fire.” We may not be able to change the world, but we surely can save somebody’s life. Besides, let us not forget this simple truth. One day it will be us who will cry for help, and we would love to see others getting involved.
A man was picking up starfish – one at a time – that had been washed up by the ocean on a beach and was throwing them back to the sea. Somebody was passing by and tried to convince him that it was not worth the effort, since there were thousands of starfish on the beach. The man picked up another one, threw it back to the sea, and said: “Worth it to that one!” (Based on J. Canfield and M.V. Hansen). The effort of the Good Samaritan meant a lot to the man left half dead by the road from Jerusalem to Jericho; it saved his life. The bystander attitude of Ms. Genovese’s neighbors also meant a lot to her; it cost her life.
“Who is my neighbor?” was the question of an expert in the law (Luke 10:29). Many times I have tried to justify my lack of involvement in helping others with the same question. It never worked, because I knew the answer. Who is my neighbor? It is anybody who happens to cross the path of my life and either verbally or silently expresses his/her need for help. Neither being in a hurry nor compassion fatigue excuse me from getting involved.
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