The Good Samaritan
One of the many reasons why this parable has remained so dear to my heart is because of this fascinating impact it’s had on our culture. It’s because of this story that the phrase “good samaritan” is part of our popular lexicon. This phrase is heavily used across local news and social media, and it has a pretty consistent definition: “a stranger who steps in to help when they see someone in public in danger.” But…our definition of what it means to “help” can be a bit variable. I did a search of the internet for “good samaritan” stories from news headlines this week, and here’s just a sampling of what I found: “Good samaritan pulls driver from a burning car” “Good samaritan pulls two people from a burning boat” “Good samaritan performs CPR on a shooting victim” “Good samaritan spends two days reuniting a woman with her lost purse” “Good samaritans find a lost wedding ring and return it to its owner, who hadn’t taken it off once in over 50 years” And the one that really got my atte...