The Good Sikh Samaritan

What are Jesus' best loved parables? Two which are only in the gospel of Luke would rank in most people's top three, and they even have their own capitalized titles. The Prodigal Son is one, and the Good Samaritan is the other. A lot of folk who aren't "churched" understand what these phrases mean even if they don't know the bible or go to church

The Good Samaritan is about a Samaritan who is good, which seems obvious. He is an "outlier" who helps a person in distress when those who are supposedly religious and righteous won't. The Samaritans were religious outcasts in the Israel of Jesus' day.

There is a lovely story making the rounds out of New Zealand about a Good Sikh. Harman Singh, a 22-year-old, heard squealing brakes outside his apartment and looked out to see that a child had been struck. He ran to offer assistance and removed his turban to use to staunch the blood of the bleeding child's head.  

Normally a Sikh would only remove a turban in the privacy of his own home but he responded to an emergency compassionately rather than being bound by religious convention. I have seen film footage of an interview in which he is modest to the point of shyness about his response.

The nice upside is that viewers noticed that his apartment was virtually bare, with hardly any furniture. A company donated enough new furniture to fill it, and Singh is obviously overwhelmed by the generosity.

What a reminder that compassion is not "owned" by any one religion and that good hearts are "open source."

Have you heard this story? What was your response? It is heart-warming.