PLGRM

In 1973 a study was done at Princeton Seminary to see if there was a situational component to being a good person. They conducted what has become known as “The Good Samaritan Study.”

The researchers asked each of 67 seminary students to deliver a sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan, a Bible story about helping strangers in need. The researchers then randomly assigned the students to one of two conditions. In the hurried condition, a research assistant concluded the sermon instructions with “Oh, you’re late. They were expecting you a few minutes ago. We’d better get moving.”

In the unhurried condition, the research assistant ended the instructions with, “It’ll be a few minutes before they’re ready for you, but you might as well head on over.”

Each student walked alone to the building where he would deliver the sermon. On the way, the student encountered a man slumped in a doorway with his eyes closed, coughing and moaning, clearly in distress.

From afar, researchers watched: Would the seminary student stop to help the stranger in need?

Darley and Batson found that only 10% of seminary students in the hurried condition stopped to help the man. In comparison, 63% of the participants in the unhurried condition stopped.

https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/take-time-be-good-samaritan

This is why religions teach us to be disciplined. If we are rushing around with no time to even pay attention to ourselves, then of course we won’t have any capacity to pay attention to others.

When preachers tell you to “observe the Sabbath” or to “Make sure and take your vacations” or “Live a disciplined life” this is partly why.

Being someone who is intentional about rest is not just for your well-being. It’s for the well-being of the Samaritan on the side of the road, too.

What does it take to be a “good person”? Slowing down.