We live in a time marked by a dramatic shift toward national isolationism and exceptionalism. By cutting healthcare and social development programs, antagonizing friendly and cooperative foreign neighbors, enforcing inhumane immigration policies targeting individuals from less wealthy and influential countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, and ceasing foreign humanitarian aid programs, we give credence to policies that divide, isolate, and do untold harm. These are the days of emboldened egocentrism and cynicism.

The ancient story of the Good Samaritan is powerfully instructive for us in this moment. Once there was a man traveling between cities in his country of origin. Tragically, he was stopped by a local gang who beat and robbed him, then left him for dead along the side of a dusty and barren road. As others of higher social status and wealth traveled past the bleeding and unconscious man, they avoided the haunting scene by passing by on the other side of the road. However, it would be a Samaritan—a culturally distrusted person of another ethnicity—who stopped and tended to the man’s needs with compassion. He not only bandaged his wounds on the spot, but he lifted him onto his donkey and carried him into the city where this Good Samaritan paid for his lodging and care until the man was well.

As the moral lesson of the story goes, the teacher invites a provocative question: “Who proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” The cynic replies, “The one who showed him mercy.” “Yes,” the teacher kindly responds, “now go and do the same.”

The world is safer and functions at its best when it looks after one another. Societies who uplift their local and global neighbors instead of punishing or competing with them choose a future committed to enduring peace and mutual flourishing. Caring for the hurting, suffering, oppressed, persecuted, and impoverished is an act of generosity and compassion that creates solutions by addressing immediate needs and resolving systemic issues. When collective efforts are focused on compassionate problem-solving with values of hope and change, the tides begin to shift toward a better tomorrow.

We protect our future by generously securing the future of others. But today, the world is less secure because we’re leaving our neighbors behind. For example, support for aid programs in war-torn countries such as Sudan on the northeastern continent of Africa is how we are helping save lives and cultivate peace without force. With aid to those programs now shut off, hundreds of soup kitchens are permanently closed, thousands will die of malnutrition, and the world is fractured more deeply.[1] To use a military analogy, we are deserting our “army of one”—one humanity, one world, one people, one mission.

The effects of going rogue are just as tragic on the long-term outcomes of our own mental, emotional, and spiritual health. When care for our neighbors and strangers grows cold, greed and bitterness fill our souls. Abandoning our love for others becomes a reflection of how we have abandoned the care and dignity of ourselves.

Hope is choosing to love our neighbors, near and far, because it teaches us how to love ourselves in balance. A holistic, global perspective keeps our egos and expectations humbly in alignment with our global reality. By serving our neighbors, we’re reminded of our common humanity and together confront the issues we all face. A more promising future requires that we, as the privileged and global wealthy, learn the lesson of the Good Samaritan—we are not above helping others in need. By doing so and actively engaging in the process, we practice love, care, compassion, and openness to each other. Big problems require big solutions, but through our collective small acts of generosity, we keep hope alive for everyone, everywhere.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/world/africa/sudan-usaid-famine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DU8.vkR5.lTde-UlAklA0&smid=url-share

Hope and Justice For All

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