Friday, December 6, 2013

Kathleen Layman: Student's Choice pt 4

"And who is my neighbor?"


In Luke chapter 10, an "expert in the law" stands up and asks Jesus about inheriting eternal life. Jesus answers by asking what the greatest commandments are which the man answers correctly but then asks, "And who is my neighbor?" (verse 29). Jesus then tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Samaritans are the lowest of the low and Jews will literally go the long way around Samaria when traveling simply to avoid the people there. 


Yet this particular Samaritan cared for a Jew that had been beaten, robbed, and left to die on the side of the road. When reading The Phenomenology of Prayer, I came across a quote that I really liked and reminded me of the parable, "Love of God and love of neighbor are inextricably connected. Indeed, we cannot authentically perform the one without the other" (Benson and Wirzba 7). 



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