so a stranger can live

As human beings, we are naturally predisposed to act from a vantage point of self interest. We do things in a way that will yield most benefit to us, and if there's harm to others, this is very often a secondary consideration. That must sound horrendous, but it is "only human" [that little phrase that was invented to cover every mistake man makes. apparently there's an entire website dedicated to them!]. There is however another class of person. People to whom sacrifice is a way of life. People who think of others before themselves. The United States Coast Guard has one such class: an elite group of swimmers called Rescue Swimmers. Not surprisingly, their mantra is "So a stranger can live." There is a song, by Bryan Adams called Never Let Go, that was probably written for a movie but really got me thinking:

Can you lay your life down, so a stranger can live
Can you take what you
need, but take less than you give
Could you close every day, without the
glory and fame
Could you hold your head high, when no one knows your name
That's how legends are made, at least that's what they say

I don't know, these sound like important questions for all of us to ask ourselves, because it seems to me they go to the very core of our humanity. This self-serving predilection was actually not an intention of the creator. Man was made with fellowship in mind. How much would we really be willing to do for others? In fact we could even [for the sake of our sanity] set the bar a little lower than the song, how far would we be willing to go for our friends?

We live in a time and society that worships star power. Name recognition. Celebrity. So when someone does a kind deed, they are like companies - they probably want the media there. To, you know, let everyone know. It is, after all, news, [that someone has committed a random act of kindness]. Or maybe even on a much less grand scale, we'd like our friends to know all the things we do "out of the kindness of our hearts." In fact, this public acknowledgment is ostensibly so important that the Reader's Digest has these days created an entire regular column called [aptly] "Kindness of Strangers" [but at least to the Digest's credit, it is the recepient of the acts who write to this column, not the doers]. But assuming there was no fame and there was no glory attaching, would we still do the things we do?

I heard this story in January about this woman who, watching Bethuel Kiplagat talking, called the network and asked how she could get in touch with him, she wanted to help. She's a counsellor by profession, and apparently by April she'd seen over 4700 people and couples. I cannot even imagine the tragedies she may have in so doing averted. Just one person, who decided to reach out to a stranger. How many of us keep asking ourselves "Really, I'm just me. What can I do?" Apparently a lot. And until we try, we can never know. Hellen Keller was an american woman who turned deaf and blind at age 2, and so this of course meant she also couldn't talk. But she did not let this deter her. She wanted to change the world, and change the world she did.

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can
do something; and just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do
the something that I can do.

END