From the minister: Busyness
Good morning and welcome to church,
I read about a social experiment this week. The experiment involved seminary students of at an American seminary (a theological college).
They were given instructions to preach a sermon on campus. They had to go to another building on campus to deliver the sermon. Along the way, someone was planted as having collapsed. The experiment was to see how the seminarians would react to this collapsed person—would they respond as a good Samaritan, whilst on their way to preach a sermon.
A number of variables were used in the experiment, including the subject of the sermon – some were told to preach on the Good Samaritan. However the most telling variable that affected whether the seminarian would stop to help the person in distress was time. Those who were given their final instruction telling them that they were late and needed to hurry demonstrated least likelihood to stop and help – even those preaching on the Good Samaritan!
The lesson is that the busyness of life can shut out the needs right in front of our very eyes. It’s important that we prime our hearts regularly so that we are ready to see.
Reverend Michael Turner
