Good Samaritan

I read an article today that convicted my spirit and broke my heart. It was a story about a string of events caught on a surveillance camera in New York. A couple walking down the street started arguing and the situation escalated and became physical. A homeless man in his early 30's stepped in to protect the woman. Her attacker then turned on the homeless man, stabbed him several times and ran away. The woman fled in the opposite direction. The "Good Samaritan" (as they are calling him)tried to follow the attacker until he collapsed onto the sidewalk.

The video surveillance showed several people walk by the injured man. Some simply glanced his way and kept walking. Others stopped and gawked, then walked on. Finally, a man rolled him over, noticed the pool of blood under him and hurried away. Eventually, authorities arrived, but it was too late. The man was dead.

A few locals were interviewed and expressed disgust and disappointment that no one DID anything. "What has happened to humanity?" they asked. Many people saw him lying there and just walked on by. No one even attempted to help him.

This man, this "Good Samaritan" chose to "get involved" instead of just looking the other way when he saw the woman being attacked. Maybe he even saved her life! But where was a Good Samaritan when he needed one?

We've all heard the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. Basically, a gang of thieves and murderers beat the crap out of a traveling Jewish man, stole all he had and left him for dead. A priest, a teacher of religion and a Levite all saw the man, but passed by on the other side of the road. Then a Samaritan came along and helped him, regardless of the fact that Jews and Samaritans were enemies. I recently heard it said that the thing that separated him from the other men who passed by was not his courage or bravery, but his perspective. The other men were more worried about what could potentially happen to them if they risked stopping to help. The Samaritan was more concerned with what could potentially happen to the victim if he DIDN'T stop.

I'm sure those people in New York assumed this was just some drunk homeless man, passed out on the street. Heck, living downtown, I see that from time to time myself, but the thing is, even that deserves at least a call to 911.

We live in a "Live and Let Live" culture. We are raised to mind our own business and not get involved in the affairs of others. We put our own needs and concerns above others and we live in fear of what could happen if we get involved.

How many times are we faced with opportunities to help others, to be the hero? How many times do we simply keep driving when we see someone hitch-hiking or a car stranded on the side of the road, out of fuel, with a flat tire or in need of a jump? We are in a hurry so we don't stop. We assume someone better qualified to help will stop, so we keep going. Or we are afraid that by stopping, we are putting ourselves in harm's way. I mean, you just never know what kind of psychopath is pretending to need assistance, but is actually just waiting for an opportunity to kidnap, rape or kill! In reality though, the person in need is just like you and me, just down on their luck.

I hope we all think twice before just passing by someone who needs our help. What if it was me? What if it was you or someone you loved? Wouldn't you want someone to stop and help?