Quote:
Originally Posted by saphireSue
In the Bible the good Samaritan doesn't hesitate to help the victim.
Our victim by the way is the Hobo of the group.
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I like the fact the he is a hobo. I think, perhaps, that says something. (Though in the original story it would seem that the man has means.)
That said, how do we know that he doesn't hesitate. Obviously, it is just a story, a parable. And the lack of hesitation certainly says something. But that isn't usually how things work in real life. Instead, we are appalled, disgusted, fearful. It is only with courage that we overcome it and take the risk of identifying with another enough to help him.
We are told that the Samaritan was "moved to compassion." But how, exactly, we are left to wonder and interpret on our own.
If I were doing such a skit (perhaps in clown, possibly otherwise), I think I would place the setting in downtown Chicago late at night on a lonely street (by an alley) which one, nonetheless, must pass through to get from somewhere important to the comfortable confines of one's home. The man on the street would be a homeless, dirty beggar. The first person to pass is a sophisticated suburbanite lady who looks down upon this hobo; the second a rural Illinoisan visiting town that is fearful; the third would be a slick New York attorney doing business here who, alone, actually responds to the call while walking by and stops to take interest in the downtrodden bum, providing him with both immediate care and long term opportunity.