The Good Little Samaritan

By Cindy Ash

from Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion a little girl stood up to nag her mother. “Mommy,” she asked, “What

must I do to get an American Girl doll?”

“What have I told you before?” she replied. “What does your chore chart say?”

She answered, “Do chores to earn my allowance and save up my own money; and, be

nice to Mommy so she will take me to the American Girl store.”

 “You have answered correctly,” the mother replied. “Do that, and you’ll have an

American Girl doll.”

But the child wanted to justify herself, so she asked, “And what if I do my brothers’

chores?”

In reply, the mother said, “A woman was putting the clean laundry away when she

got sidetracked by attempting to tidy a messy child’s room. She was surrounded by dirty

clothes strewn everywhere, Barbies and their accessories scattered into the far corners of

the room, and scissors and loose beading supplies lying on the carpet before the desk. The

dad came looking for her to see why dinner was late, and when he saw the mess he went to

check his email, leaving the clean laundry in the basket. So too, one of the brothers, as he

hunted for a lost toy, came to the room where the mother labored and saw the clean

laundry, and went quietly to his own room. But the daughter, as she went to find her

brother, came where her mother was, and when she saw her mother, she took pity on her.

She put away the beads and the scissors, speaking kindly and talking about her day. Then

she put away the clean laundry, and went with her mother to the kitchen and set the table.

At dinner, she said to her brother, ‘You should tidy your own room and help Mommy with

the clean laundry, and thank her for this delicious and nutritious meal.’”

Then the mother asked her child, “Which of these do you think was most helpful to

the mother?”

The daughter replied, “The one who had mercy on her.”

The mother said, “Go and do likewise.”

But the daughter protested, “Can’t you just buy me an American Girl doll?”