Bicycle Samaritan
By Donald Clark
“A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man he passed by on the other side.” (Luke 10:31)
God blessed Ramon Garza in that he lived three blocks from the public elementary school where he worked as the ESL coordinator. He often traveled to work on a bicycle, except for the few days a year when it was pouring down rain during his commute.
One day he was running late for school. He saw a young first or second grade girl on the sidewalk, crying and holding her scraped knee. Her bike was lying on its side and she was sitting distraught beside it. Ramon guessed she did not belong to AAA and probably did not have a cell phone with her so he stopped to offer assistance. Ramon’s childhood years spent fixing his own bike helped him quickly diagnose the problem. Her chain had slipped off the sprocket and was soundly wedged between the sprocket and the frame.
With much effort, grunting and the greasing of his hands, Ramon was able to pull the chain free and get it working back on the sprocket although it was still quite loose. He advised the girl to ride carefully and have someone tighten the chain when she got home at the end of the day.
The little girl’s tears and frown became a wide smile which reached from ear to ear. Ramon’s hands were filthy and he was late for his 7:15 AM bus duty but her beautiful smile was well worth it.
Every day, students with emotional, social, moral and academic chains that have fallen off enter our classrooms. They are stuck and will go nowhere without our help. Are we good Samaritans who stop and render aid even though it means stepping outside of our set curriculum and time schedules? Do we stop to render aid even though it may take great effort and things may get a little messy? Are we taking the time to truly listen, tutor, reteach, counsel, and console this year? Are we trying new creative strategies when things just aren’t working behaviorally or academically as usual?
Like the priest in Jesus’ parable, the alternative to stopping to help is to ignore the problem because of our pride, busy schedules, and false belief that it is REALLY someone else’s job to take care of the problem or need. Some of us don’t stop because we don’t like things to get messy.
What and who are you this year at school—a good priest or a good Samaritan? The choice is yours.
PRAYER: Lord, show us when and where to stop and render aid to parents, students and staff in need. Help us to be, not just good, but great Samaritans in your schools.
EXERCISE: Stop and render aid to parents, students and staff members whose social, emotional and academic chains have come off their sprockets. Be willing to be interrupted and available. Be a good Samaritan in the schools.
“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.” (Luke 10:33-34)
Donald Clark is a thirty-three-year public educator of special needs students. He is the founder of the CEAI Houston Area Network and has been its Director for over twenty years. He has received the Texas Lifetime Achievement Award from the HEB Excellence in Education program and has received a state congressional commendation for his work with youth and educators. He has written numerous collections of educator devotionals such as Teacher Take Courage!, The Carpenter’s Classroom and Get Off the Bus. He has been published in the Teachers of Vision magazine and his work featured in Around the Word in 180 Days. He recently launched a new book, Peemail–Pet’s Healing Power, which is available on Amazon.