Monday February 17, 2003

~ Snowday ~

(Child-speak Part II)

     I was watching a young boy around 12 shoveling out his sidewalk this morning. Now this sounds relatively normal, but his choice of implements was well, insufficient. We had 2ft+ of snow and he was using a dustpan. He had cleared away about 5 sq ft of space with it. I was thinking about how hard it was shoveling this mad amount of snow with a shovel…. and he was going at it with a dustpan!?!? God really knows how to pop my bubble. Self-pity? Look over at that boy with a dustpan. I prayed for some more strength from my Lord. Then I went over and lent this poor boy a shovel, (I had two.) He said thank you and accepted it quite graciously. At least he didn’t question why I was helping him. I wasn’t really in a mood to chat. But I really needed to respond to this boy shoveling with a dustpan. Thank you, God. Each day, in every way, the goodness of Your ways amazes me. *sniff* No, I’m not going to cry, misty eyes will have to do.

     But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
     In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of 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 was 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. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘ and when i return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
     Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
     The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
     Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

— Luke 10:29-37 (NIV)–