surely this is not THE Jericho Road

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

-Luke 10:25-37

At the end of the street where I lived in Madrid, the same man sits on this corner of concrete that forms the entrance to a metro station. He has folded cardboard on this little corner to form a seat. When I started my walk around 8 am, he wasn't there, but by the time I came back in the afternoon, he was there. He had the same quick little remarks as I walked by, "hello pretty" or "good afternoon!" and a smile on his face with his metal cup in his hand hoping I would put in some change.

In my twenty minute walk, I made only three turns. On the main road, after passing this first man, I also passed another woman who sat in the same spot every morning. She never spoke, she just had her little dish sitting there waiting to be filled. As people walked by, she would make eye contact and follow them with her eyes as they approached and as they passed her.

By the time I walked home, she was still there but she switched to the opposite side of the road. An accordion player, who always started conversations with me at the stop light where he sat, joined the commute. A few times there was a man in a very ragged suit who had a cardboard sign that just said "I am hungry." He stood about two blocks after the accordion player. Yet another man, also sitting with a cup in front of him, sat in between them.

Several mornings, I walked just inches away from a man's "home" where he kept his suitcase of belongings and was wrapped in a blanket on the same step of a car dealership. He was always gone by the afternoon. I never saw his face. Sometimes in the afternoons, a man would be on one of the street benches, barefoot, with beer cans under the bench, sleeping. I wondered if it was the same man or two different men.

Surely, this road, this road that I walked everyday isn't THE Jericho Road. Oh no, it's not possible because its Calle Isaac Peral. Its not called Calle Jericho. Surely this is not where I am called to stop and ask how am I to help? Surely, I am not the Priest or the Levite who walked by heartlessly, who walked by without caring or noticing. I noticed!

I don't have any change.
I don't have coins, nor the ability to bring about change. 

Is the parable about giving each of them money everyday as I walk past them? Is it asking me to make them all breakfast or lunch, or provide them with groceries? Is it merely telling me that I cannot be hard-hearted and ignore? The one that had mercy inherits eternal life- I have mercy on them! Is the parable about teaching me that these people are PEOPLE, they are humans with stories and struggles, who deserve someone who advocates for them, someone in their corner, someone to help them? Is the parable only about guarding them from my judgment or ensuring I do not turn up my nose thinking I am greater than them?

I want to believe that the parable has real, rich requirements for me. Its just so much easier to think that the only Jericho Road I've been on were on "mission trips" or when I've actually tossed out a few coins or offered whatever food I had in my purse. 

Today, I write to admit that I realize I take the Jericho Road everywhere. I want to be the Good Samaritian, I just don't always know exactly what that means. Thus, I am, in fact, the lawyer who asks Jesus for some clarification. Who says, yes, Teacher, but tell me, where is the line? What must I do to inherit eternal life?

So, what Jericho Road takes you to work every morning? To the gym? To school?
What does that mean to you?

"On the one hand, we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Wolf!

This summer I am working in legal aid. The organization seeks to help bridge the dramatic gap between those who are in need of legal services and those who cannot afford it. The deeper I move into attempting to understand poverty, the more I see that it is like a fragile collection of dominoes balancing on the thinnest and most unsturdy of surfaces. When one thing goes wrong, it all comes tumbling down. 

In almost four weeks of work, I have met fourteen clients. Every single one of them has had a compelling story to tell. As my work is winding down and I am preparing for a new phase of the summer in Madrid, it is my sincere hope to get to share many of their stories with y'all. 

One major theme that has really hit me is the incredible power of words. Two clients I've met were accused of child abuse, and both claimed that they did nothing to deserve such awful accusations. One's accuser was an ex-spouse, and another was a rowdy teenage daughter. I found myself a bit surprised at the gender assumptions I felt when the man sat in front of me telling me that these accusations were false. Yet when the woman sat in front of me crying, I found it easier to believe her words. 

The ethical challenges of dealing with clients are a major component of being an attorney. What do you do when you do not believe a client? How do you react when you think one is lying to your face? Do you write a declaration to be submitted to court when you think the story you're writing is false? Do you probe the client? Do you fail your client by being skeptical and refusing to help him just because his story has no evidence? Do you fail the next client that needs your time by spending time with someone who is not being honest with you? Thankfully I take solace in learning to navigate such gray areas by knowing these are determinations for a judge-- these are determinations for the real Judge. 

For the poorest of the poor, such an accusation is not merely a legal problem. An accusation of child abuse affects the marital relations or the divorce proceedings, it affects custody, it involves Child Services, it means time off of work which means less income and potentially losing a job upon the employer learning of such a grave accusation. It means further damage to the relationship with those children, it means needing to access a computer or resources that you do not have. What seems like one legal problem quickly multiplies and becomes four legal issues that all need attention, time, and hours spent in courtrooms. It costs money. It costs a lot of money that you do not have. 

I find it a bitter and terrifying realization to know that there is no evidence to stand against the boy who cried wolf. There is nothing that can appropriately counter the accusation of abuse, or of rape, or of cheating. Somehow the power of "He hit me" is infinitely stronger than "I didn't!" Somehow, there is no requirement of a medical exam or photos or another witness to the abuse. But there is some requirement to show that you did not do something. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying that I think in order to charge or prosecute a rape victim or an abuser that we need a witness or some hard evidence. What I am saying, is that these are subtle underlying teaching moments in the fable we all grew up reading that I am just now learning. It's the opposite of the story.  The fable ends with the line, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!" The problem is that sometimes, the words are so damaging and so heavy, that no body believes the truth against a liar.