This week’s reading from Luke 10:25-37 fits right in with recent current events. The parable of the Good Samaritan brings home Jesus’s message of who is our neighbor. It challenges us to break stereotypes and to acknowledge in today’s society that we are conditioned to fear or hate those who are different from us. After the two shootings of black men and the shooting of five police officers, some people are choosing sides. We will not survive if these thoughts of division continues. We do not need to fan the flame by thinking that this is a war. If this parable were told today, it would be renamed either The Parable of the Good Police Officer or The Parable of the Good Black Man. The lesson we must take from this parable is we must be open to the possibility of the humanity of those who are conditioned to hate. We might just be saved by those we have spent our lives avoiding. They might have the solution to our problems. The day we refuse that possibility is the day we begin to die and we descend into chaos. Do not judge categorically but individually. It is hard to overcome our conditioning. Scholars note that nowhere in the text is the Samaritan called good. A better title is the Journey from Jerusalem to Jericho. This perspective offers an alternative interpretation. It is no longer us versus them but simply how can we safely get from one place to another together. We need neighbors to complete this journey. We need everybody on our journey. We are all neighbors to each other. What better time to act together than when these two communities are suffering such profound pain of loss. Let us walk together, police and people, to help end this senseless violence and death.