Reflections on sunday : That we may all turn into Good Samaritans!

If you find me waxing biblical, pray let me be. Maybe I should thank my long association with Fr. Casimir Ruzindana for it. If you’ve been observing this page, you’ve no doubt noticed that the good priest has for long been my neighbour, here to my left. But I was talking about self. My wish is that I may change; that the year gone may have taken with it all my vices. This year, I pray that I will be a Good Samaritan. And I pray for mine self alone not, for I pray for thine selves too, all ye in Rwanda that have got the good grace to live, for these last sixteen years, as good neighbours. Those of you that are not Heathen remember the Gospel of Luke. Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He asked him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” The lawyer answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” And I ask of ye, each of ye resident in Rwanda, are you a neighbour? If you found a wounded victim lying down helpless, would you show them that you are a neighbour? I pray that we will not be like the priest (not Fr. Casimir!) or the Levite in Jesus’ parable who avoided the victim. And I pray that when we do come to anybody’s rescue, we shall not consider gender, height, features, nationality, race or anything. I pray that when we come to the rescue, we shall only consider the fact that the victim is a creature of God. Before 1994, Rwanda was worse than the road between Jerusalem and Jericho during Christ’s time. It was a highway for “robbers” who raped and ravaged with abandon, murdered and maimed at will. It was a highway travelled mostly by “priests” and “Levites” and any wounded victim breathed their last as these “passed by on the other side”. May bygones be bygones in this now-blessed land!You may think the Samaritan in Christ’s parable was a creature of fertile imagination. No, the Good Samaritan was from the Samaritan people, an ethno-religious group that lived among Palestinians and Israelites and was shunned by both. Samaritans exist to-date, and they are acting the Good Samaritan by helping Palestinians who cannot so easily travel into Israel to sell their goods! They have both passes to Israel and to the West Bank. Because there are many roadblocks between West Bank and Israel, a Palestinian wishing to sell goods in Israeli towns my take days before getting the goods to their destination. But a Samaritan takes a day as all he needs to go through is to flash the pass. Even then, Samaritans are ostracised by both sides. Consider the story of Joseph Cohen, a 56-year old Samaritan. He was driving home when he came across two Palestinians who shot him in the shoulder. Cohen lost control of his car and drove into an Israeli roadblock. The soldiers shouted at him to stop but the car was out of control. They shot him in the chest and he narrowly survived death. This is one incident in a history of persecution and forced conversions. In the fifth century, there were more than a million Samaritans. Today, what with theses harassments and forced conversions, less than 700 survive. You’ve heard of animals that were put in the category of endangered species so that everybody is obliged to protect them. Have you heard any similar voice in the name of Samaritans? Nary a one. Yet, they are disappearing by the hour and already only few people seem to be aware of their existence. While we can only sympathise and grieve, however, other people have been pro-active. Take the case of Sharon Sullivan. American from Michigan, Sharon has opted to settle in the Samaritan community with her four children as a way of contributing to boost their number. Says she: “….although the title has been used by so many organisations, the people themselves are unknown.” The wiseacres that have crowned themselves the global Tsars of human rights protection are busy yelling blue murder at men/women of noble intent and miraculous deed. We, the people, are happy with the menus that we are served. But no, we are a blind lot and the doyens of rights protection must show us who is good for us. No, Good Samaritans of the world, let’s ship these good-for-nothings out to the oceans to take care of the tsunamis and earthquakes there. Out, out! HRW, RWB, AI (may I not mouth the sham titles that shroud evil will) and other gang members, out to the high seas! Let us, we who care, come to the rescue of our namesakes – the Samaritans! ingina2@yahoo.co.uk