My Samaritan Moment

So, it is far too late for me to be up writing, but I have all sorts of partially caffeine induced thoughts bouncing around my head and I wanted to get some of them down before sleep finally overtakes me.

I had a seemed insignificant at the time experience the other day. I was at work, but rather than being in the office, I was driving around dropping some things off to people for a meeting later this week. As I drove down the street, I passed two little boys who seemed to be having a problem. It involved two bikes that were tipped over and it appeared one of them was strapped to the bike. The bigger of the two gave a pathetic attempt at flagging me down, so I pulled over and got out of my car. My suspicions had been confirmed- these two (they are 8 and 9) had thought it a good idea to tie one end of a rope to their ankle and the other to their bike handle and walk down the street. The rope quickly go caught in the gears of the bike and the boys couldn't get themselves untangled, hence the reason they were sitting in the street. Apparently I was the first car to pass them but they had been that way for several minutes. I quickly untied them and got the rope out of the bike gears. After giving several suggestions to alternate ways they could accomplish their goals (I'm still not entirely sure what they were, but the boys kept saying they were going to tie the rope to their ankles again), I bundled up the rope, the boys go on their bikes and rode down the street, and I got in the car and went about my errands.

Although it seemed like nothing more than a nice thing to do at the time, I have been ruminating on this since Friday. Allow me to wax philosophical for a minute or two.

There are so many people who are stuck and sitting in the middle of their life's road. Some are stuck because of their own choices, others because of the choices of others and yet others who are stuck because of tragedies in life. As we move down life's road, do we see them? Do we notice their attempts to flag us down? Do we offer constructive encouragement when they seem to want to again head down the course that got them stuck in the first place? Are we willing to stop and lend a hand, even if it means we'll be a little later in getting where we're going? I have watched a friend have a mighty struggle this year, both physically, spiritually and emotionally, as she and her sweet family have dealt with the tragic loss of a precious child. Because she has had so many willing to come to her aid when she has felt stuck, she is more in tune with and aware of the needs of others who may likewise be stuck. Do we allow all of life's experiences to help us tune in or does it take a tragedy?

Another thought- it is easy to see a child and help them out. Many times their problems are obvious. In the case of my little act of service, it was little children with what was, for them, a pretty big problem. Why does it seem we only notice big visible problems? My experience has been that it is the little unseen problems that make life's road sticky. It may not be the death of a loved one or the loss of a job- it may be the unseen problems like loneliness or anxiety or fear of the unknown or not feeling you are loved. Do we look for people who are stuck because of those problems? Are we as willing to help with the unseen as we are with the seen?

I'm going to ponder on this some more, but I feel sleep finally creeping up on me, so I will leave with a suggestion to read this talk and this thought from Emily Dickinson:

“If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Up to his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”