The Gospel reading for this Sunday, Luke 10: 25-37, is among the most familiar in all of Sacred Scripture and allusions to the Good Samaritan are common even among folk who are unaware of the source and unmindful of the Lord Jesus Himself.



The parable is not only familiar, but the central question haunting. Who is my neighbor? And the circumstances of the story add to its richness and make reflection on it more profitable. What, for example, would have been our obligation had we been on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho and come upon the traveler not after he'd been set upon by thieves and left for dead, but while the thugs were robbing and beating him? And has reflection on this question anything to tell us about the limits and implications of pacifism?



William B.O. Peabody, a graduate of Harvard College and a member of the faculty at Phillips Exeter Academy, who became a Unitarian minister and who was born on 9 July 1799, wrote a hymn on this text from Luke.



Who is thy neighbor? He whom thou

Hast power to aid or bless;

Whose aching heart or burning brow

Thy soothing hand may press.



Thy neighbor? ’Tis the fainting poor

Whose eye with want is dim;

O enter thou his humble door,

With aid and peace for him.



Thy neighbor? He who drinks the cup

When sorrow drowns the brim;

With words of high, sustaining hope,

Go thou and comfort him.



Thy neighbor? Pass no mourner by;

Perhaps thou canst redeem

A breaking heart from misery;

Go, share thy lot with him.