A Parable Recast for ORU

There was a man, a student here at ORU, who was out one evening jogging on the outdoor track. As he came by Lake Evelyn on his fifth lap, he was ambushed by a group of gang members who beat him up and took his watch, wallet, and iPod before vanishing into the night. Bloodied and bruised, the student crawled up the sidewalk toward Evelyn Roberts Drive.

Just then, a Head RA was heading back into the dorms. As she drove by the man, her headlights illuminated the now collapsed pile of broken bones and bloody clothes. She knew that he needed help, but she was running late for a meeting with the Dean and her Dorm Director, so she continued on into lower lot. As he vanished from her rear-view mirror, she consoled herself with the notion that since he was a man, she really wasn't supposed to intervene anyway.

Then, a Head Chaplain drove by the man. He, too, was running late, for a meeting to plan his missions trip to Zanzibar. Remembering that one of the chaplains he oversaw was a nursing major, he determined to call him and have him come help the man. But, since it is is so unsafe to use a cell phone while driving, he decided to wait until he had stopped to make the call. When he pulled into his spot, he saw the Head RA, an old friend from one of his sister wings, and they began chatting. By the time the Head Chaplain reached the doors to Towers, he had completely forgotten about the man.

Just then, a baseball player came roaring around the curves on Evelyn Roberts Drive in his Ford pickup. When the player saw the man lying on the side of the road, he was moved with compassion; in his many years of playing baseball, he had suffered many injuries. Though exhausted from a long day of practices, he pulled his truck over, moved some contraband from the passenger seat of his truck, and helped the injured man get in. He called security, drove him to the hospital, and helped him fill out all of the forms he needed to. When the man's RA and chaplain arrived, the baseball player was already gone.

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? ... You go, and do likewise.

As a random side note, while I was thinking this through I came to the conclusion that if I was to break my jaw, they'd probably have to not make me shave for a couple of weeks. Hmm....


Peace, love, and joy to you all.