Self-addiction

Yesterday at church I was challenged. And what's church without a little challenge? This time it came from my brother who was giving the sermon at the local church where he's youth minister. The teaching was taken from the story of the good Samaritan. It's one many of us have heard a hundred times in as many different ways. But I saw it from a slightly different angle this particular morning.

We the congregates were asked to ponder whether the thing that prevented a priest and a Levite from helping the beaten man on the road to Jericho was simply asking the wrong question: "What will happen to me if I stop to help him?" The question they should have asked, and presumably the question our Samaritan example did ask, was "What will happen to this man if I don't help him?"

It's the simple yet profound conundrum of our human race. There is no shortage of excuses when it comes to not helping someone in need -- many of them very good excuses, in fact. But this isn't just about a stranger by the side of the road in physical peril. It's about your friend, your neighbor, your co-worker, your sister. One thing it's certainly not about: you.

I generally consider myself a kind person and thoughtful friend. Well, at least that's how I come off. In my mind, however, exists this funnel-like object. Acts of love and caring come pouring down and I am happily drenched in them. But in a dry season, I position that funnel in front of my eye and see the wide world as a bevy of blessings that ought to be swishing and funneling toward me. This is particularly true in my friendships.

My human condition mingled with past hurts has led to a shameless self-addiction. "Why aren't they calling ME?" "Why aren't they checking up on ME?" How backward. How narrow. Every one of my precious friends is going through her own unique challenges. She may not be bloodied on the side of the road, but her heart might be wrung or her spirit exhausted. How could I know if I don't ask?

Lord, grant me the strength to turn the funnel around and use it as a scope to target the people I should bless, and let all the gifts you've given me come flooding through to reach them.