We've been in Las Vegas this weekend as it was Mary's farewell... Mary's talk during sacrament was about service and was based on a conference talk from this past general conference. I started to think about the parable of the good Samaritan and thought I'd share a couple of thoughts with you that came to me during the rest of the meeting. I've also been reading the Gospel's again, and I've felt that the words of the Savior are so perfectly chosen. There isn't a time where the words in the scriptures aren't exactly what He wanted to be there regarding His personal teachings. As such, with respect to the good Samaritan parable, I was thinking about what the cost of service to the Samaritan was. Approaching the injured man might have placed him in peril as those who'd done the deed may have been still around and he could have identified them to the Samaritan for justice to have been done to them. Despite the possibility, and against the current sentiment of mutual dislike between their regions of origin, the Samaritan bound up his wounds and placed him on his beast. My guess is that the Samaritan had to then bear the burden that had previously been on his donkey as I'm sure the donkey couldn't have handled both the injured man and the current load it was bearing. The Samaritan then was seen in public with the injured man while presenting him to the innkeeper where he took from his own purse the cost of lodging and care that might have been incurred along with an assurance of payment for any further costs that might arise in bringing him back to health. I thought I'd just list some of the costs of service the Samaritan faced:
Dear Elder
public scrutiny, physical labor, personal inconvenience for the detour of way and time, financial outgo, personal ownership of the situation for future costs. There may be more, but ultimately, the teaching wasn't meant to be one of an extreme example. I believe it was meant to show an everyday situation and what our level of willingness to serve ought to be. It may actually cost us money and perhaps a significant amount. We are likely to be inconvenienced in our time and way. We may have a social cost that we feel as we serve, but all of it is known to our Father in Heaven who sees and hears us in secret and rewards us openly when our eye is single to His glory in serving His children. I know that our efforts to serve Him are NEVER unnoticed by Him or wasted.
Have a great week! Hurrah for Israel!
Love Dad
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