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Making the Stop
"A good Samaritan is he who stops to relieve the suffering of another, no matter who or what he is." —Saint John Paul II
We know the parable. It's dramatic. Life-or-death. The kind of suffering you can't miss.
But what I love about Saint John Paul II's words: relieving suffering can mean a lot of things. The parable shows us someone in desperate need of help, but that's not always the case. There are people in our lives suffering in comparatively small ways—and we still have the ability to relieve that suffering.
We don't need to look for the most dramatic cases and put all our energy there on a daily basis. There are plenty of people around us who are suffering in some way that we could probably help alleviate a little bit.
We can be a blessing to them, no matter how big or small the cross they're carrying.
The coworker having a rough morning. The spouse overwhelmed by the day. The kid struggling with homework. The friend feeling forgotten.
Small suffering is still suffering. And we can still stop.
