The Pulpit Speaks: September 13, 1958

An article written by my father, the Rev. C. Thomas Paige, as it appeared in the Tri-State Defender on the date shown.

“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” – Luke 10:29.

I am sure that the word “neighbor” could easily be changed to read “friend.” We all know the story that follows this question – the story of the “Good Samaritan.” This is the story that could revolutionize human relations today in a few moments.

A few days ago one of the radio ministers, Dean Israel H. Noe, made the statement that the man who has a friend is extremely fortunate. This statement calls for a lot of thought and discussion on my part. I had some apprehensions on the whole statement, so I talked to a friend of mine. She is not highly educated but worldly experiences have given her a keen knowledge about many things.

My thinking had become very cynical about the whole thing and I was very reluctant about accepting the statement. But when I finished talking with her, all cynicism was gone.

I remember a statement my mother used to make quite frequently: “Everyone who grins in your face is not your friend.” How I hate to think that such is true but, in the words of President Mordicai Johnson of Howard University, “the older I get, the more I realize that such is true.”

The story of the Good Samaritan shows us three things. First, the bounds of friendship extend beyond racial groups. Most of us who have amounted to a little in this life — if we are honest in our evaluations, will quickly admit that had not our activities gone beyond racial confinement, little that we have would ever have been realized. The education, the homes, the moral, spiritual, and social political positions that many of us enjoy are predicated upon people in all walks of life running interference for us.

In the second place, the bounds of friendship extend beyond social position. How unfortunate it is that, in far too many cases, our friendship pattern extends only to those who move around in our special social group. Basically, our whole program of friendship must extend to all in all walks of life. Wherever we see suffering, our Christian duty demands that we come down from our high horses of doing well and make it possible for someone else to do well. In my small way of evaluating, the Good Samaritan did a good job of this. There are those among us who will help our friends only when it fails to inconvenience us, but when the time comes for us to give up something, we are not for that.

Oh, yes, many of us boast of our friends, but let me hasten to tell you that your friends are not nearly as numerous as you would think they are. I don’t want to appear discouraging to many of you but on the other hand, we might as well be realistic. Many of us who are going around through life thinking that we are loaded with friends are in for a big disappointment, and for a big surprise.

A man told me some time ago that when we get to heaven we are all going to be surprised in two ways: by who made it and by who did not make it. The same thing is true with friendship. Unfortunately for many of us, we are going to be surprised by who are really our friends and by who are not our friends.

The man who was robbed surely thought that when the priest came in sight, he would get relief from his suffering. But he was sadly disappointed when the priest chose to pass over to the other side. Then suddenly, hope sprang anew in his breast when a man of letters, one who should have helped him, came in sight. But how this dream vanished when, all of a sudden when seeing this man, this lawyer chose to go on the other side of the street.

Another look up the street revealed a man coming along with nothing but a donkey and no claim to being able to help. But in his breast was something not true of the others and he went over and made provisions for the assistance of this troubled man. Sometimes I wonder if only one out of every three people with whom we have contact is our friend. If this is true, may the Lord have mercy upon us. This week, each of us should examine ourselves and see how we measure up, because in the words of the poet “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”