I want to write about an experience I had tonight, and then some thoughts that followed.
I was on my way home from Kofenya, it was about 12:30am. There was this dude on the side of the road with his car, kind of waving at me as I drove by...and at other cars and stuff. So, I decided to stop, turn around, and go back. I said a quick prayer of protection, and drove up to the dude and asked what was wrong. His car had stopped working (yeah! Just stopped working while he was driving!) and his cell phone wasn't working, so he just needed a cell phone. He said he was from UC, so I told him I'd give him a ride back if he needed it. He said he was staying in Oxford for the nite, so that wasn't necessary, but he did use my phone to call his girlfriend to come pick him up. He said then that I could leave and thanks....and I made sure he didn't need anything else....and told him that if he did, my number should be on the phone of the girl he just called when she arrived to pick him up. And, here's the funny part.....he was like "Who are you?!?! I mean, you were going to drive me to Clifton....just nothing better to do?" I said, "well, sleep I guess. But that's no big deal." And he said "Well, I guess not everyone up here at Miami is a prick like I thought" or something along those lines. And so we said our goodbyes after shaking hands, and I went on my way, and he onto his, and that was that.
Now, I am not telling this story to give Kim a big pat-on-the-back or anything. I was processing through some things. Here were my thoughts afterward. There are always these social "safty precautions" that we are supposed to take or whatever....you know, not stop for hitchhikers and things like that. And the fact that I was alone in my car late at night, with a potential drunk guy (he wasn't drunk by the way, but very well could have been by the way he was waving his arms around and stuff) along the road would probably wave a big red social "no no" flag. But, I just kind of wonder if that's all a big piece of poop. Because really, to help someone, isn't it worth risking my health? I mean, what if someone in his car had been seriously hurt or something? Regardless of suspicions, aren't we supposed to help and trust God to protect? I mean, if it is obvious that someone is dangerous and has bad intentions (and I mean OBVIOUS), then I think we are safe to stay away. But if someone looks like they might need help, aren't we called to stop and help them and trust that God has the situation under control? I think our society has done such a great job of instilling fear in us, that we are missing great opportunities to help people and show love. My greatest thought on the way home: Wouldn't I rather be hurt or killed stopping to try to help someone than risk leaving someone in the dark who really needed help at the time? Something I am pondering......because what our society says is not always right. And I'm tired of living in fear.
OK, I'm done ranting.
I was on my way home from Kofenya, it was about 12:30am. There was this dude on the side of the road with his car, kind of waving at me as I drove by...and at other cars and stuff. So, I decided to stop, turn around, and go back. I said a quick prayer of protection, and drove up to the dude and asked what was wrong. His car had stopped working (yeah! Just stopped working while he was driving!) and his cell phone wasn't working, so he just needed a cell phone. He said he was from UC, so I told him I'd give him a ride back if he needed it. He said he was staying in Oxford for the nite, so that wasn't necessary, but he did use my phone to call his girlfriend to come pick him up. He said then that I could leave and thanks....and I made sure he didn't need anything else....and told him that if he did, my number should be on the phone of the girl he just called when she arrived to pick him up. And, here's the funny part.....he was like "Who are you?!?! I mean, you were going to drive me to Clifton....just nothing better to do?" I said, "well, sleep I guess. But that's no big deal." And he said "Well, I guess not everyone up here at Miami is a prick like I thought" or something along those lines. And so we said our goodbyes after shaking hands, and I went on my way, and he onto his, and that was that.
Now, I am not telling this story to give Kim a big pat-on-the-back or anything. I was processing through some things. Here were my thoughts afterward. There are always these social "safty precautions" that we are supposed to take or whatever....you know, not stop for hitchhikers and things like that. And the fact that I was alone in my car late at night, with a potential drunk guy (he wasn't drunk by the way, but very well could have been by the way he was waving his arms around and stuff) along the road would probably wave a big red social "no no" flag. But, I just kind of wonder if that's all a big piece of poop. Because really, to help someone, isn't it worth risking my health? I mean, what if someone in his car had been seriously hurt or something? Regardless of suspicions, aren't we supposed to help and trust God to protect? I mean, if it is obvious that someone is dangerous and has bad intentions (and I mean OBVIOUS), then I think we are safe to stay away. But if someone looks like they might need help, aren't we called to stop and help them and trust that God has the situation under control? I think our society has done such a great job of instilling fear in us, that we are missing great opportunities to help people and show love. My greatest thought on the way home: Wouldn't I rather be hurt or killed stopping to try to help someone than risk leaving someone in the dark who really needed help at the time? Something I am pondering......because what our society says is not always right. And I'm tired of living in fear.
OK, I'm done ranting.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home