I am seeing this poor sweet animal struggle to hold on to the rocky side of this deep well. It's paws pressing into the stones, slipping and struggling to keep it's head above water. It was awful and everything in me wanted to jump in there and rescue the poor thing! Luckily, the people videoing this sweet creature, were also devising a plan to save her. The video proceeds to show a brave man being lowered into the well where he eventually is able to get the dog into a net-like device, and have her raised up and out to safety.
Those compassionate souls didn't stop there, however. They got her to a vet where she was able to receive the care she required, and eventually she was healed and whole and had a new family of her own.
But what if nobody had come along? What if these people hadn't cared enough to be inconvenienced over an animal they didn't even know? How many people had walked past and not done anything to help?
What if this was me? Or you? Or someone you loved?
Mike and I recently took in a couple of sweet young boys. You all know we have been on the road to being foster parents for awhile, and when we were coming up to receiving our first placement, I got a call. It was a woman I had met and spent some time with, but honestly didn't know super well. She was in a desperate situation and needed a safe place for her boys to stay while she worked on getting out of it. My instant reaction- of course! Anything we can do, we will. So within a few days, these sweet boys moved into our home and our hearts.
Since that day, I have had many people tell me how wonderful we are to do this. We have actually been called "Saints" on several occasions. Us? Me?? Seriously? Saints??
I'm reminded of a friend I work with who recently witnessed an awful car accident. It all happened right in front of her on the wet, snowy roads. A car wasn't paying attention and crashed almost directly head on into a mini van who was carting a woman and her 2 year old child. My friend's instant reaction was to pull over and see if they needed help. Thank God she did, because the woman was dazed and out of her right mind. She couldn't think straight, and could hardly put a sentence together, let alone make safe and quick decisions for her and her child. The van began smoking and my friend knew she needed to act quickly. She desperately tried to get the woman out of the vehicle, which was proving rather difficult. Grabbing the screaming, bleeding, terrified toddler from his car seat, she finally got the woman out and onto the side of the road. Here is where my mind gets blown... A man came walking up to my friend while all this was happening... to ask her to move her car because it was blocking his way... seriously, ya'll I can't make this crap up!
People at work called her a hero. I called her a hero! Why had nobody else stopped and tried to help? Why had that man been more concerned with traffic than with the lives of these 2 human beings?
This all braves the question. Why does this make me a saint? Why does this make my friend a hero? Really all we did was the right thing. What kind of jacked up world are we in, that we can't step up and do the right thing when it's directly in front of our noses??
I have a little game for you. Imagine this. (I would say close your eyes, but that's just ridiculous because then you can't read what I am going to say next.) So keep your eyes open, but clear your imagination. You're in your home. It's evening time and everyone is settled. Dinner has been eaten and cleaned up. The house is clean, kid's homework is done, baths completed. All you have to do is relax. Warm. Cozy. Comfortable. Suddenly, out of nowhere, you hear something at your front door. You go to check it out and you see the sweet face of a skinny dog. Hungry, cold, tired, dirty. An innocent soul just looking for a safe place to lay it's furry head.
What do you do?
I would wager that 99% of you would open the door. Let that poor pup in your home, clean him up, feed him, and work on finding his rightful home, or at least one who'll love him forever.
Now imagine this... it's not a dog at all. It's a person. Now what do you do?
Yeah, things just got real, huh? It's time to get honest about ourselves. We are all too willing to donate clothes to charity or even throw a $1.00 into a cup for the needy. But we aren't willing to get our hands dirty. To inconvenience our comfortable and cozy life to help another in desperate need.
That dog in the well- cold, desperately clinging to slippery stones, struggling with everything in her to just keep her head above water- that was my friend. That was the woman and her child in the smoking mini van. That is so many of our neighbors and friends and people in our community. Why on earth do we need a hero or a saint to step in? Why can't we all help each other? Why can't the extraordinary become ordinary? If it takes a hero, then I challenge us all to throw on our capes and become heroes.
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.’- Luke 10:27
I am confident you all have heard this scripture. If you keep reading, you will see in verse 30 where Jesus begins to explain who our neighbor is...
...“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by 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 other 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, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘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.”Mercy.
What if one day, I find myself in a desperate place? An impossible place? A place where I see no way out of and I feel like I'm drowning? Slipping on the stones every time I attempt to grab them. I pray someone is enough of a "saint" to help me. To take my children and love and care for them while I get my life together and heal from my wounds. I pray someone is "heroic" enough to pull my babies out of a smoking car and help me to safety when I am too dazed and confused to get there myself. I pray the same for you.
Let's go out and be heroes today. Let's not turn the other way when we see someone in dire need of a hand. Let's show compassion and love to even those who don't deserve it. Let's get our hands dirty and inconvenience ourselves in order to show love to those who need it. Let's do the right thing.
