FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2009
Why don't we stop?
I wrote this yesterday on Facebook but decided to put it here too...isn't that why I created this blog thing anyway??
I was driving on I-75 through Tennessee this morning. It was raining pretty hard and visibility was getting worse by the minute. As I drove, I saw a little black car that was pretty smashed up; it looked like it hit the guard rail on the left side of the highway. I saw two people outside of the car holding each other. One was older, probably the mother, and the other was a bit younger, probably the daughter.
I pulled over on the highway a few yards past them and grabbed my phone. As I ran towards their car, I could see a baby in the back seat (the front of the car was pretty much completely gone). Luckily, everyone was okay and the daughter had just called 911. They were surprised that someone stopped in the pouring rain to offer help.
As I walked back to my car I wondered one simple question: Why hadn't anyone else stopped? How many of the dozens of drivers that drove by in that short time saw and yet continued to drive by. Some probably called 911 from inside of their own car, some may not have seen anything while others, no doubt saw and chose to just keep driving thinking that someone else will help.
Whether you are Christian or not, I believe that the following story has meaning to us all: A man was traveling when he was robbed, beaten and left for dead. A priest walked by - on the other side of the road. A Levite walked by - also on the other side of the road. Finally, a Samaritan man walked by. He saw the man on the ground, bandaged his wounds and paid for him to be nursed back to health. After telling this story, Jesus asked "which of these do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten?"
Again I have to ask, why did no one else stop this morning? Was it because it was raining? Were they just in a hurry? Did they have something better to do? I bet those people who crashed had somewhere to be too. I'm sure that crashing their car in the pouring rain wasn't exactly on the top of their to-do list this morning. So, why is our culture one that seems to just pass by? It is as if we (and I do not exclude myself from this) have the mentality that "someones else will help". The problem is that those in need do not need "someone else to help"; they just need help. I wish that our culture was one that stopped rather than passing by.
Dr. Herb Lee once wrote: "...As a foundation in today’s world, it is compulsory that each Friar performs his most basic public responsibility-the devotion to live most to serve others best." Though he wrote this as a call to action the Friars' Society at WCU, I believe that Herb would agree that we should all live in such a manner.
I was driving on I-75 through Tennessee this morning. It was raining pretty hard and visibility was getting worse by the minute. As I drove, I saw a little black car that was pretty smashed up; it looked like it hit the guard rail on the left side of the highway. I saw two people outside of the car holding each other. One was older, probably the mother, and the other was a bit younger, probably the daughter.
I pulled over on the highway a few yards past them and grabbed my phone. As I ran towards their car, I could see a baby in the back seat (the front of the car was pretty much completely gone). Luckily, everyone was okay and the daughter had just called 911. They were surprised that someone stopped in the pouring rain to offer help.
As I walked back to my car I wondered one simple question: Why hadn't anyone else stopped? How many of the dozens of drivers that drove by in that short time saw and yet continued to drive by. Some probably called 911 from inside of their own car, some may not have seen anything while others, no doubt saw and chose to just keep driving thinking that someone else will help.
Whether you are Christian or not, I believe that the following story has meaning to us all: A man was traveling when he was robbed, beaten and left for dead. A priest walked by - on the other side of the road. A Levite walked by - also on the other side of the road. Finally, a Samaritan man walked by. He saw the man on the ground, bandaged his wounds and paid for him to be nursed back to health. After telling this story, Jesus asked "which of these do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten?"
Again I have to ask, why did no one else stop this morning? Was it because it was raining? Were they just in a hurry? Did they have something better to do? I bet those people who crashed had somewhere to be too. I'm sure that crashing their car in the pouring rain wasn't exactly on the top of their to-do list this morning. So, why is our culture one that seems to just pass by? It is as if we (and I do not exclude myself from this) have the mentality that "someones else will help". The problem is that those in need do not need "someone else to help"; they just need help. I wish that our culture was one that stopped rather than passing by.
Dr. Herb Lee once wrote: "...As a foundation in today’s world, it is compulsory that each Friar performs his most basic public responsibility-the devotion to live most to serve others best." Though he wrote this as a call to action the Friars' Society at WCU, I believe that Herb would agree that we should all live in such a manner.
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