It has been said the lessons we learn after we thought we knew it all are the most important ones. This certainly holds true for me.
One of those learning experiences is about a message I thought was just religious teaching that applied primarily to church-going believers. It is far more all-encompassing and has importance outside the stained-glass windows of a church house. It would improve our world if taken to heart and followed universally, whether church-attendees or not, and regardless of political party, culture, or nationality.
That famous story is one Jesus told as a life lesson for everyone. It is about an event on the treacherous road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It involved four people: a traveler, a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).
Robbers attacked that traveler, beat him, stole all he had, and left him lying there half dead. A priest saw him but passed on by. A Levite did the same. Then, a Samaritan saw him, had compassion, and dressed his wounds. He put him on his donkey, obviously having to walk alongside, and took him to an inn, where he paid the expenses for the poor man.
We often hear on the news about someone who has stopped and helped a person in distress. The reporters usually call the helper a “Good Samaritan.” And this is where the story becomes personal.
The priest and the Levite were in honorable professions. Neither of them broke the Law of Moses. However, they were missing the attitude of empathy. Both were self-absorbed and concerned about what it could cost them if they helped.
The Samaritan had a completely different attitude. He thought, “What will happen to the poor victim if I don’t help?”
Do you see the importance of these two different world views? We are all divided into one of the two groups; those who worry about what it might cost them, and those who are concerned about what will happen if they do not help.
The priest and the Levite broke the most basic law that makes for a better world. They did not treat the beaten, helpless man as they would have wished to be treated if they had been in the same circumstances.
We saw these two factions, in real time, on their symbolic Jericho Road during the Congressional budget negotiations in the week of December 16-20, 2024.
The initial bipartisan deal to which congressional leaders had agreed included some key priorities that would, in a few hours, be jettisoned by GOP leaders looking to calm Elon Musk’s pique and satisfy Donald Trump’s demands (thebulwark.com/p/elon-muskkilled- budget-deal-children-cancerfunding- collateral-damage).
The list of provisions left in the dust was lengthy, but some of the hardest cuts to swallow involved medical research. One of the most striking things about the revised bill was the deletion of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Program, an act named after a girl who died from cancer (Bulwark).
In particular, the revised funding bill stripped language that would have permitted children with relapsed cancer to undergo treatments with a combination of cancer drugs and therapies. The bill also did not include an extension of a program that gave financial lifelines in the form of vouchers to small pharmaceutical companies working on rare pediatric diseases (Bulwark).
The revised bill was likewise missing earlier provisions that would have continued the stipulation for kids on Medicaid or CHIP—that is, poor children— to access complex medical care across state lines (Bulwark).
The original bill failed. The revised one was shocking. “There was $90 million on basically page one of the legislation that is for [Trump’s] inauguration party,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett said.
“The Idea we would say it is okay for you to get $90 million for one day and then cut out $190 million for children when it comes to cancer research was absolutely mind blowing.”
She added, “Thank you to the Democratically controlled Senate. On their way out of the majority, they decided they were going to do some good.
They made sure the funding got back in” (msn.com/ en-us/politics/government/ mind-blowing-trump-wanted- 90m-for-inauguration-whilecutting- 190m-from-cancer-research/ ar-AA1whqIB).
Nancy Goodman, the founder of Kids V Cancer, said in the Bulwark article cited above, “The biggest challenge all these bills face is not opposition, it is apathy.”
There you have it. Two groups. The ones with apathy. The others with empathy.
The final budget bill was approved and passed shortly after midnight, thus avoiding a government shutdown. Federal employees would not have been paid, among other major disruptions from a shutdown. It restored elements that had been removed at the insistence of Trump and Musk.
I gave this article the title “A Road Less Traveled.” It involves the conscious decision to follow that Samaritan’s example. That is where the “less traveled” part comes in. Not everyone can, or is willing to, take on the role of the Samaritan. It is not always the easiest, but I believe it is the best way.
We are all on our figurative Jericho Road, whether as individuals or collectively as a society that is governed by leaders we choose. In my view, our actions show which group we are in. It is never too late to make New Year’s resolutions.
If we have sometimes been in the camp of the priest and the Levite, the best time to resolve to be a Good Samaritan is today. Let’s encourage and support leaders who, in the words of Jesus, “go and do likewise.”