you must be willing to take a risk…

if you’re going to be kind you must be willing to put up with interruptions, you must be open and you must be willing to take risks. to be kind, you must be willing to take a risk.

many times, the one thing that keeps you from being kind is your own fears. the most cruel people are the most fearful people. so you have to look at your fears. just imagine the fears the good samaritan could have had. they were all legitimate.

he could have said, “what if i go over and help this guy who’s beaten up, naked, laying at the side of the road dying, what if the robbers are still here? i could lean down to help this guy, and they’ll beat me up – take my clothes, take my donkey, take my riches. legitimate fear.

he could have said, “what if i go over and help this guy and it’s a trap? he jumps up and he beats me up and takes all my possessions and leaves me beside the side of the road. what if it’s a trap? a decoy.” a legitimate fear.

what if i go over to help this guy, and he rejects my help. he says, “i don’t want your help! leave me alone. you’re a samaritan.” jews and samaritans were mortal enemies. they were divided by race, religion and politics. and they hated each other deeply. for a samaritan person to help a jewish person was unheard of! “what if he rejects me, and then i'll feel stupid? i'll feel dumb. what if i go over to help this guy, and i kneel down to take care of him and other people come along and they think i did it? they’ll haul me off to jail. it’ll take a long time to explain that i wasn’t the guy. i was just trying to help.”

today, we’d say, “what if he sues me?” legitimate fear.

“what if i go over to help this guy, and i can’t really help him. i don’t know what to do. i don’t know what to say. i’m not trained in first aid.” how many times have you not helped somebody because you thought, “i don’t know what to say.” maybe you don’t need to say anything. maybe you just need to go over and say, “i know you’re hurting, and i care.” that’s all you need to say.

just a thought from the front porch…