Illustration by Dan Butt
This is the story of the Good Samaritan.
A foreigner travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was set upon by thieves who beat him and stole his clothes. A Jewish priest and a Levite crossed the road and walked on without helping.
Then a fellow from Samaria came along. He helped the beaten man, took him home and gave him a bed for the night. When he was well enough, the Samaritan gave him clothes and sufficient money to continue his journey.
Jesus told this story in answer to a question by a lawyer (I kid you not) who asked: ‘Who is my neighbour?’ Jesus’s response is found in Luke’s Gospel as the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Everyone is your neighbour.
The Good Samaritan had come to the aid of a man of a different race at a time when the Holy Land was riven by xenophobia and the hatred of migrants. The lesson teaches us that we must deal with our own prejudices and help others wherever they are from and whoever they may be.
The Good Samaritan’s story has inspired great art and his name has been borrowed by churches, hospitals and charity organisations. The suicide watch, the Samaritans, is staffed by volunteers who provide support to people in the UK and Ireland suffering from emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide.
The Samaritan Test
It had just gone 8.30. The sky was dark and the curtains closed when there was a knock on the door. I didn’t open it. I asked who was there. ‘I’m homeless, can you help me?’ a man replied. ‘I’m sorry,’ I told him. ‘We don’t open the door at night.’
We live neither in biblical times nor on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. We live in the middle of London. It isn’t merely wise to be careful, it is essential.
While I was taking a walk the following morning, I saw a young guy with a backpack sheltering from the rain beneath scaffolding. He didn’t ask for money, but I felt guilty passing by under my umbrella. It was raining again next day and the same young guy was standing in the same place staring out at the rain. We chatted for a couple of minutes and I gave him £10.
He was about seventeen and seemed pleasant enough, softy spoken, gentle. I could have taken him home; we have a spare bedroom. We could have washed and dried his clothes in the machine and sat down together for some dinner.
Why was I unable to do what the Good Samaritan had done?
There are good, honest, if vaguely shameful reasons why not. The homeless young man may have had psychological problems, a victim of what Mrs Thatcher called care in the community. He could have stabbed us to death in the night. On the other hand, if he was as gentle as he appeared, how could we with our empty bedroom have turfed him out the following morning? We would have to have taken on a long-term commitment, tutors, A-levels, college, adoption?
During the first wave of the Covid epidemic, the government created the ‘Everyone In’ programme to get homeless people off the street and into hotels. It was successful, highly praised, but too expensive. According to a leaked document seen by BBC News, 16 May 2020, ‘the government quietly pulled the plug’ before the second wave.
According to Shelter, there are 280,000 homeless people in Britain. Thousands are sofa surfing and in temporary B&Bs. Families of four or five or six are often obliged to share one room. Minimum wage and zero-hours contract workers live in constant fear of losing their homes. Thousands sleep rough like the boy I saw that day in the rain. I feel guilty but the problem is not my lack of compassion, the lack of Good Samaritans in our community.
The problem is behind the door at 10 Downing Street where, during the last twelve years under five successive Tory prime ministers, conditions have become so bad, 22% live in poverty – that’s 15 million people. In a class of 40 children, 9 often start the day without any breakfast. Levelling Up is a slogan, not a policy. It will get worse in the next two years under Sunak and Hunt
There is no easy answer, but I feel the same way you do. In the late 1990’s I volunteered full time for three months with The Simon Community in London, a wonderful organization whose philosophy I appreciate. I would consider donating to them in February as that is when the holiday donations are gone and the pantry is bare. https://www.simoncommunity.org.uk/
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I have to hold back the tears when I see someone sleeping on the streets. I usually buy them some food or phone the useless government hotline “streetlink” whereby nobody ever seems to answer a phone. Next best action is giving a Direct debit to Shelter. Why can’t the Government just use the thousands of empty buildings which seems to me the perfect solution. They could also build large blocks of one-bedroom flats. Why don’t they. Because it doesn’t put money into the pockets of Boris and his chums so people are left to rot on the streets in one of the wealthiest Countries. ~Compassion doesn’t make money
Blessings to all…
I remember during the war my mother was the good Samaritan in the village . We took in waifs and strays so much that when a couple, escaping the bombs in london, asked around the village for accommodation they were directed to my mother who happened to be out. The couple cut a hole in the window and installed themselves. This would not happen today because people are frightened of each other. Many a time I have passed a poor soul cold and hungry on the street and the best I can offer is food. I long to give them shelter but in this day and age we do not dare to expose ourselves. Exactly the same with hitch hikers. My parents had many friends who they had met by giving them a lift. I do donate to Shelter but it is not enough and feel a sense of guilt with my empty room
Action instead of words, I have two clients who are very wealthy and they spent christmas day serving food to the poor and needy.
Shelter has ignored since 1995, and gone along with the media and political elites’ silence on, a case that rent and mortgages no longer constitutionally exist. courtchange dot wordpressdotcimslash security-of-tenure
It arises from a case where the police claimed free speech for officers who lied that a newly bought house was in a rough area. That free speech conflicts constitutionally with civil order that the state is not entitled to take away from you. So the position that police officers might take away from you like this, life under civil order, “rule of law”, in any new home you move to, means that any eviction making you need a new home puts you in an unconstitutional situation. Therefore, all housing tenure contracts involving threat of eviction became unconstitutional.
All the big homelessness organisations could have used this to abolish rent, mortgages, and leases. To choose not to was self-promoting careerism ethically against the needs of their own people
We have people across the wealthier countries of the world who no longer think that society is important. If some people have money and resources, they conclude they owe nothing to other people and that is the core of libertarianism.
Sadly, this has become a political movement where taxes should be low, government small and individuals should be responsible for themselves. Trouble is we are social animals. We need other people to interact with for our wellbeing and for real practical reasons. Our civilisations only exist because people work together to ensure it keeps going. We need people to clean the streets and farmers to grow our food. We need doctors and nurses, teachers and we need artists, musicians and authors to make our life more than just a daily grind.
All of these things will often only work well if they are properly funded and that can work best if we all contribute our taxes and governments use it wisely for our benefit. If you want examples of how this can work look at the Scandinavian countries.