Do people really help people anymore? Do we flock to a fellow friend who is in need of a shoulder or do we turn the other cheek cause modern philosophy tells us that they are merely crying for attention? Hubris. Mundane. Paradox.

Stop to give a dollar or a meal to a stranger on the street. Rummage through your old clothes, and bring them to the Goodwill Center. Serve food on the holidays to the homeless people (who just so happen to be there on days that aren’t holidays too). Lend a hand to a broken down car on the street. Give a lift to a woman with three bags of groceries and a kid in her hand. But support a friend? Hopeless. Ideological. Contradiction.

When my friend is in pain, I am in pain. I want nothing more than to lift them off their feet and carry them to the next checkpoint. When they are thirsty for something they can’t find, I want nothing more than to provide a stream of water to quench them. When they are reaching for something they can’t touch with their own hands, I want to lift them up on my shoulders to provide the extra height. The Good Samaritan helped a stranger, but he could do both I would contend.