Where is the Good Samaritan today?
When I was a kid, my Dad made a point of telling us that stopping to help another human in need was the best thing we could aspire to. And I find myself agonizing as I hurtle with thousands of others down the freeway when I see another car stalled by the side of the road. How easy it is, in this day of cell phones, to tell myself that I'm not needed, they've probably already called someone. And often, I can see clearly that this is the case. The man of the party is pacing the right-of-way, phone to ear, and the rest of the family are silhouettes inside the stalled vehicle. But there are also times when It's not clear that a cell phone is available and yet I do not stop.
Along with nearly 200 million other Americans I am becoming more and more selfish about my time. I see the approaching derelict on the side of the road and weight what it would cost me in terms of my sanity, my workday, my own quotient of chaos, to pull to the side and ask if I can help. Rationalizations about why those stalled on the side of the road don't need me are simple but the truth is that I would fling twenty dollars out the window as I passed more easily than I would give up my time.
I have money. Americans as a nation have money. We can give---and do! Out of our wallets. But more and more, the gift that we part with under duress is our time. This isn't news to anyone who's blood is still flowing as we cruise at warp speed toward 2010. Time is the one thing we can't get enough of. And when it's gone, time can't be replaced. In this breakneck world we inhabit, the greatest and most generous gift is our time. If someone has stopped long enough to actually engage you they are being extremely generous. And on the other hand, there are many who substitute the real engagement that giving time entails for writing checks and passing five dollar bills out the window of the car at the freeway ramp. Monetary generosity salves the conscience. Maybe.
I find myself stepping back under the pressure of these thoughts. I ask myself how generous I can be. Generous enough to give you the time of day? And there are those who have given me their time. Have I honored it? I don't know. Time will tell.
Along with nearly 200 million other Americans I am becoming more and more selfish about my time. I see the approaching derelict on the side of the road and weight what it would cost me in terms of my sanity, my workday, my own quotient of chaos, to pull to the side and ask if I can help. Rationalizations about why those stalled on the side of the road don't need me are simple but the truth is that I would fling twenty dollars out the window as I passed more easily than I would give up my time.
I have money. Americans as a nation have money. We can give---and do! Out of our wallets. But more and more, the gift that we part with under duress is our time. This isn't news to anyone who's blood is still flowing as we cruise at warp speed toward 2010. Time is the one thing we can't get enough of. And when it's gone, time can't be replaced. In this breakneck world we inhabit, the greatest and most generous gift is our time. If someone has stopped long enough to actually engage you they are being extremely generous. And on the other hand, there are many who substitute the real engagement that giving time entails for writing checks and passing five dollar bills out the window of the car at the freeway ramp. Monetary generosity salves the conscience. Maybe.
I find myself stepping back under the pressure of these thoughts. I ask myself how generous I can be. Generous enough to give you the time of day? And there are those who have given me their time. Have I honored it? I don't know. Time will tell.
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