My Thoughts by RJ "Who is your friend? "

A couple weeks ago I wrote about being a friend.  Some people have asked, "Who is supposed to be my friend? "  A better way to ask would be who are you supposed to be a friend to.  There is a story that talks about this.  It is called the tale of "The Good Samaritan" .   The story below is taken from "The Message".  The credit can be found in the attached comment.

Luke 10:25-37  The Message
There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man. A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man's condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I'll pay you on my way back.' "What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?"  "The one who treated him kindly," the religion scholar responded.    Jesus said, "Go and do the same."

For those of you who have never heard this story, the Samaritans were disliked by the Jewish people of that day.  They treated them like outcasts and mostly avoided them.  Priests were religious leaders and Levites were religious leaders who acted as teachers and judges in the community.  They were very important people.  Yet when they came upon the injured man, they avoided him. Why?  Before you get too high and mighty, why do you avoid people who are hurting or need help?  Sure you may not come across someone beaten up on the side of the road, but what about the person who sits by themselves on the bus, the last one picked for games, the person who  is struggling in class you are good at, or the person everyone picks on because they don't fit in.  So why would you leave them behind? It's not a very nice thing to do.  And for those of you who take advantage of people who are younger or not as strong as you, it's more than just not nice, it's bullying. Just don't bully people.  So how can you stop bullying, reach out to others.  Be the good Samaritan in your school.  People look at you weird when you stand up for a person being teased and take the time to listen to the person in your class who is sad, but that's their loss. Dare to do something different this week.  Dare to not just walk by, dare to stop and make difference.  Dare to be the difference.  

Email me about ways you made a difference this week!

RJ