Editorial June 23, 1917 Issue

"Thy neighbor as thyself"

Archibald McLellan

In his parable of the good Samaritan our Master enjoined the practice of mercy as necessary to the fulfilling of the command, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." It will be remembered that it was related in answer to the lawyer's quite natural question, in his desire to justify himself, "And who is my neighbor?" Nor must it be forgotten how strong in that age were the traditions of caste, creed, and nationality, traditions which Jesus rebuked and swept aside in this instance even as when he gave of the water of life to the woman of this same despised race of Samaritans and healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman. Thus did he exemplify the great truth which Mrs. Eddy declared on page 13 of Science and Health, namely, that "Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals."

In these days of widespread human suffering, therefore, this parable of the good Samaritan is of marked significance to those who in their ministry to mankind are endeavoring to follow the Master; in other words, to be Christians. It is to be noted that Jesus did not even require that the man who had been wounded and the man who finally succored him should be of the same race or of the same religious belief; neither did he require that the healing of the wounded man should be by the same method which he himself would have employed in similar circumstances. Evidently the one thing which Jesus wished to impress upon his questioner was that the Samaritan had expressed the quality of mercy and neighborliness; that he had given what he could in the way of assistance, apparently without hesitation, although he too might have "passed by on the other side" as had the priest and the Levite, and without inquiry as to the return that might be made to him in the future, and that in doing this he had fulfilled the law of loving his neighbor as himself.

The opportunity for all mankind to fulfil this same law has not been taken away by the war that is now in progress; rather is it accentuated by the increasing needs of so large a part of humanity. That Christian Scientists have borne a generous share in providing food and shelter for the destitute and distressed, is shown by the fact that through the war relief fund over three hundred thousand dollars has been distributed in their behalf by committees of The Mother Church or through other reliable avenues of dissemination. But, gracious and generous as the giving has been, this does not close the account, for the relief work must not pause while the need continues, and so long as this is the case we are sure that Christian Scientists will exercise that mercy and compassion which are so much a part of the practice of their religion.

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