Thoughts during my drive home from work a few moments ago.
"I know how to pull up to the signal just right on my way out of Biola, I think it senses the car best when you pull up quick, and a bit 'too far'. Yep, the light changed pretty fast that time. Car behind me probably appreciates that.
Oh, the upcoming signal is gone red.. well, i can slow down a bit, it'll be green at just the perfect time for me to go through without losing too much speed.
Hmm.. same thing with this next light, only... the cars already there are starting off too slow. How irritating. ... There's still going slow. [check my speed] We're going 35 miles an hour! This road is usually running at 45. hurry it up. [change lanes, but still slow]. Grh. [van in front of me changes to right lane]. Oh. Police lights. Must have been an accident.
(location: La Mirada Blvd. and Leffingwell)
[driving by cops] huh. there's a girl sitting on the curb. whoa. her Jeep is REALLY trashed in the front. I wonder who hit her or who she hit. She looked pretty wretched. Dang.. there's a tree snapped off in the road. She drove through a whole 4-5 inch tree with that Jeep.
[stopped about 40 ft past the accident for a red light] She was all by herself. How horrible. Should I go back and offer help? Those officers certainly won't be much encouragement. Should I turn into the next parking lot? Should I.. should i.. sigh. [keep driving] Am I doing the right thing? She feels so wretched. I'll pray for her. God will help her. She'll be alright. [prayer].
I'll blog about it.
[as i write] maybe i can ask some others to pray for her."
4 comments:
I prayed for her.
Yeah, that sort of thing really sucks. It is tough getting involved with someone you don't know. I never think I can really support them, so I feel like I'll give them a false sense of friendship if I go to help. However, I have gone up to someone like that once long ago, hopefully it helped them instead of making them think I was just fake.
What do you think is holding us back? Are we just being realistic in doing so, or too cynical?
yeah eric, i know what you mean. I think that it would have been right for me to stop, walk to the girl and talk with her, even though I am a complete stranger. It wouldn't be so much friendship that I'd be offering, but a presence, compassion, care. Someone understanding. And yeah, it'd be short-lived, but at intense times like that, I think it'd be valuable. Aren't our ideas of "angels" similar? Often very temporary but oh so encouraging and faith inducing.
I'd encourage the next person to act on those feelings of compassion and goodwill, even if they are badly recieved.
I guess the test is if you do it the next time you have a chance...
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