Pause for Thought: Who Is My Neighbour?

Being kind and treating people well

by Alexandra Palmer

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To use the story of the Good Samaritan to consider the importance of caring for our neighbours.

Preparation and materials

• You will need to be familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. You may wish to ask a student to read the passage found in Luke 10.25-37, which is available at: https://tinyurl.com/y4uu6hc5
  
  
• You will also need to display the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’

Assembly

1. Tell the students that we are going to be thinking about our neighbours today, starting by considering the Bible story of the Good Samaritan.
   
   
2. Explain that while Jesus was on earth, he told stories called parables, which can be described as heavenly stories with an earthly meaning. The story of the Good Samaritan is about a man who gets attacked on the road to Jericho.
   
   Tell the story of the Good Samaritan or ask a student to read the passage found in Luke 10.25-37.
   
   
3. Ask the students to discuss the following questions about the story in small groups.
   
   - What did the first two people, the priest and the Levite, do when they saw the injured man? (Answer: they crossed to the other side of the road and continued on their journey.)
   - The story doesn’t tell us, but why do you think the priest and the Levite walked on by? (Answers may include suggestions such as they were worried about being attacked by the same robbers, they wanted to reach their destination without delay and they just didn’t care about the man.)
   - Did the priest and the Levite have the right attitude? (Answer: No!)
   - Why do you think Jesus said that the third person to come by and help the man was a Samaritan? (Answer: to make people think about their attitude towards others. Jesus was making it clear that it doesn’t matter who does or doesn’t like you as long as you’re kind.)
   
   
4. Show the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’.
   
   Ask the students to discuss what the saying might mean.
   
   Emphasize that the saying means that it’s what’s on the inside that is important.
   
   
5. Ask the students to form small groups to discuss the question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’
   
   Listen to feedback from each group.
   
   Try to ensure that the following types of neighbours have been covered:
   
   - our neighbours at school
   - our neighbours on our road or street
   - our neighbours in terms of people in the UK
   - our neighbours in terms of people living in other countries

Time for reflection

One of Jesus’ commandments was to love your neighbour as yourself. To love yourself means to take care of the things that you need.

Thinking quietly, what sorts of things do you need to make sure that you live a good, healthy life?

Pause to allow time for thought and discussion.

Thinking quietly, who do you think your neighbours are?

Pause to allow time for thought.

Take time to consider what you can do to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.

Pause to allow time for thought.