The Good Samaritan

A few days ago, on Christmas, I went to church with my brother who was back for winter vacation. After the holy mass we went to the crib which had been decorated quiet beautifully. Mom had given us twenty bucks each as an offering to infant Jesus. I put my twenty rupees note in the offerings box, knelt down and prayed for my family. My brother mean while just stood there admiring the arrangement of the crib. When I was done with my prayers he turned back and led the way to the car.

He asked me about my studies as I got into the car. Seemed like he didn't want to talk about not making the offering at the church. So I stopped myself from asking him about it. But as I got out of the car to open the gates of our house, he told me not to mention about it to Mom.

Next day he invited me to accompany him for some shopping. On the way he asked, "According to Bible which is more important, loving God or loving each other?"

"Both are equally important." I remembered having learned in Catechism school that the two most important commandments are to love God with your whole heart and to love your neighbour as much s yourself.

"Isn't it said 'how can you love the God you can't see if you can't love the brother you can see?"

I was not sure I had read that. So I replied, "it makes sense".

"So you need to love your brother before you can claim to be loving God. God can look after himself. Your neighbour probably needs your help."

Before I could make a reply, my brother slowed down the car and came to a stop a few blocks from the junction.

"Wait here", he said before leaving the car. He went into a near by restaurant and a few minutes later came out with a parcel. Instead of walking towards the car, he crossed the street and walked up to a beggar sitting on the road side. His legs were disfigured, clothes very dirty and torn. My brother gave the parcel to him.

I felt proud of having him as my brother.

"That was very nice of you." I told him as he tightened his seat belt.

"He is still going to be hungry in the night."

"It reminded me of a story Jesus told."

He gave me a questioning glance.

"The story of the good Samaritan."

"Well Christianity is not about loving God." He was smiling. "It's about loving your fellow beings. I believe thats what every religion teaches."

"When you do the slightest help to one among you, remember that you are doing me a service" I quoted the Bible.

"Exactly."

"But church do use the donations to help the poor. They help them build houses... run orphanages..."

"Not all the cash goes to helping the needy. A part of it is used for other purposes like renovating the church, building new parish hall etc. Why do we need a church to pray? God will listen to us even if we pray in an open ground."

"Are you an atheist?" I had this question in my mind for a long time.

"Well, I'm not sure of existence of God. But if He does exist, I'll say he is not fair. Some are born in palaces and a few others in dustbins. You know the story of three servants and talents given to them, right?"

"Two of them using the talents given to them in trading and the third burying his talent. What about it?"

"The first two were given 5 and 2 talents respectively. The third got only one. He probably didn't want to loose his only talent in business. The other two had the advantage of having plenty."

"Are you saying the third servant was not lazy?"

"No, the test was not fair."

What my brother was saying made sense somehow. You cannot compare two people unless they are given the same situation to react to. I may return the wallet I found lying on the ground to the owner, but a hungry person will probably use the cash to get some food. But I didn't want to think God is unfair. God probably has a reason for everything.

My cell phone kept on the dashboard started beeping. My girlfriend was calling. She is probably angry that the soft-toy I got her as a present is a little smaller than what she asked.