“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.
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.”
Luke 10:30-33 (NIV)
Both the priest and the Levite in this story, walked on the other side of the road to avoid looking at the man who was beaten and robbed. It requires an attitude of indifference to ignore what is in plain sight and then walk away.
There are different degrees of indifference, and not all involve a victim of a robbery or a beating.
A survey once questioned 6,500 college students, to ask whether they believe in God or not. The vast majority answered the same way. “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” That common response made me wonder why they couldn’t just answer with a straightforward “Yes, I believe in God”, or “No, I don’t.”
To avoid giving a direct answer is just another way of showing indifference. In most cases, an indifferent response is usually not the best one. Indifferent attitudes led to many forms of human suffering throughout history, including slavery, poverty and genocide.
I caught myself being indifferent one day last week at the Nursing home. Many residents have mental health disorders of various kinds, and often display odd behaviors, like one lady who is wheel chair bound, and rolls through the facility every day. She might suddenly stop and approach someone, to loudly curse them out, for no reason, until a staff person comes to take her back to her room.
I’m going to call her Carla, for privacy reasons. One day last week I brought treats to share with the residents that I know. Instead of carrying the treats in a plastic bag, I decided to use an Aldi shopping bag that day. For some reason, Carla was obsessed with that Aldi shopping bag, and she kept asking me for it. I told her that I needed the bag, but she wouldn’t stop asking. She never resorted to cursing, but I grew tired of her steady nagging, so I sat down at a table, with my back to her, until she finally left the room.
In the moment of being annoyed by her, I thought of Carla as a stranger, not one of my group of regular friends. I felt no pity for her knowing how verbally unhinged she can become, so I chose to be indifferent to her. While driving home that day, I thought of the Good Samaritan story, and how he had pity on the wounded man.
I began to feel sorry for ignoring Carla until she went away. I realized that I treated her in the same way that the priest and Levite treated the wounded man in that bible story. Anyone can look and see who the wounded ones are in their plain sight, but choose to respond with pity or indifference.
In my remorse, I stopped at Aldi on the way home, and bought another bag for myself, so that I could bring Carla the bag that she begged for.
The next day, Carla rolled into the Day room in her wheelchair, and I walked over and handed her the Aldi bag. Her face lit up and she thanked me, asking, “How much do I owe you?” I told her “nothing.” She was so delighted to have a silly empty bag, and she carries it around with her, every day since.
I wasn’t aware of my own attitude of indifference, because it’s so easy to avoid certain residents, who exhibit strange behaviors.
Carla saw treasure in an Aldi bag, and it reminds me of the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Every human person is God’s treasure. The Good Samaritan reminds us that whether people are sick or healthy, every person among us is “one of our own.”
Lord, deliver us from indifference, and open our hearts to see every human person as one of our own. Amen
