Wish my week improved after my Thursday venting but it didn't. The same problems that led to the entry that day still exist. However, that does not mean my disposition got worse. I can report that there was a drastic upturn late Thursday night. The major factor in this was in my spending quality time alone with God. It never fails to amaze me that the God of the universe really has something to say to me here in Texas. All day I wrestled with the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke's gospel. It is similar to looking for something you lost and you can almost remember where you left it. That's how it was on Thursday night. My search centered on how to live a happy life. It finally dawned on me about 11:00 that evening that the way to be happy lies in living a life that makes Jesus happy! Doing that may not be easy but it really is that simple.



Jesus tells us this story to display the quality of life that pleases Him. The key element is that the Samaritan is moved by compassion. It isn't enough to quote the Bible if the heart of God is missing from our life. Those who we would consider to be the most biblical in the story end up showing no compassion at all. The religious characters end up leaving the victim no better off than the robbers. He is still half dead after they pass by. It takes someone completely unexpected to show the mercy to take action. Compassion is a fascinating word in the original languages. It has the idea of feeling that starts in our gut and overtakes our heart, mind and body. This is exactly how God is to us in our need of Him. Jesus dies for us as well as lives through us even though we were once sinners. He is our ultimate model of giving compassion to those around us in need.



Why is it so hard for us to do this? We learn from this story that our Lord is happy when we live in such a manner. For one thing, we need to grow up. There is no way to be happy much less make God happy if we are consumed with our selfish heart. Far too many people filter life around them in terms of how it affects them first and sometimes only. We cannot see others in need much less God Himself if we only focus on us. We also need to be able to reach out once we get over ourselves. Jesus told us to "go and do likewise" following his tale. This is much more than just being nice to people. It has the idea of taking risks with others not knowing what may be the outcome. We are never told how the victim responds to the grace of the Samaritan. That is not the point of the story. We only know the Samaritan behaves like Jesus. Do we? One last lesson we need to remember is that we need God's help to live this way. This is not natural behavior in our world. I cannot love as God loves without His assistance. I cannot love as displayed here unless I encounter the love of God in my wounds. My guess is that we can ask God for that help and He will be more than glad to give it.



This week has zero guarantee of being any better than last week. The hope is that the lessons learned last week will keep the focus on being a person who makes God happy. If that happens then no matter how things may seem to fall apart my heart can stay intact. Life is a contact sport without a doubt. But God promises to heal our wounds to restore us to wholeness. Let us give Him those wounds so we can join in giving others the compassion we experience in