Tom Prato - The Good Samaritan

‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’
But who is my neighbour? Is he the man next door?
Is he my flesh-and-blood, my kith-and-kin?
My fellow Jew? I do not know;
My world is so narrow
And limited. How can the Lord imply
My neighbour is my enemy?

And what does this story mean?
Why did the priest and Levite ignore a brother Jew
Stripped, unconscious, bleeding, beaten blue?
Did they not have a heart? Should compassion
Be found in a Samaritan?

There is so much more to this than I can see.
The message clearly must be:
The Samaritan had the oil and the wine.
Wine that stings like truth and still revives;
Poured on wounds, it cleans and purifies.
Oil soothes the pain and quickens healing;
God’s gospel brings in joyous feeling,
Gladdens the heart and makes the face to shine.
The Samaritan had the oil and the wine.

The Levite and priest, despite their toil
And service in the temple, lacked the oil
[Supply of Spirit] and the wine that cheers
Hearts weighed down with worries and with fears.
Bereft of soothing oil, refreshing wine,
What use is arid service without love divine?

Having borne the heavy mill and crushing press,
Emptied of self and pride and selfishness,
The Samaritan knelt down by the victim’s side,
[True symbol of Him crucified]
Pouring on the oil and the wine.
Binding the wounds, he brought him to an inn
[A church that cares for saints wounded by sin];
And taking out two denarii
Assured the manager of full supply
Of love and grace and comfort of the Spirit
Which all the rescued of the Lord inherit.

Tom Prato

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-good-samaritan/