oldie but goodie

i'm touched once again as i re-read this beloved old story. you simply can't go wrong with a classic. (but, just because something is old doesn't make it a classic.)

on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.
"teacher," he asked, "what must i do to inherit eternal life?"
"what is written in the law?" he replied. "how do you read
it?"
he answered: "'love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and,
'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"you have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "do this and you
will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "and who is my
neighbor?"
in reply Jesus said: "a man was going down from jerusalem to
jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. they stripped him of his
clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. a priest happened
to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the
otehr side. so too, a levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side. 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, pouring on oil and wine. then he put the man on his
own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. the next day he took
out two silver coins and gave them to the inn-keeper. 'look after him,' he
said, 'and when i return, i will reimburse you for any extra expense you may
have.'
"which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell
into the hands of robbers?"
the expert in the law replied, 'the one who had mercy on
him."
Jesus told him, "go and do likewise."