For no other reason than I had the free time in order to do it, I arrived in Casper Wyoming for the first rehearsal for our holiday concert about an hour early. Usually due to other obligations of work, I arrive exactly on time if not slightly late to those first Thursday evening rehearsals, a constraint I regrettably no longer have. As I was about to make the final turn of the trip, I noticed a Toyota Camry on the side of the road stuck in a hole. Instead of carrying on about my way to arrive early, perhaps have a candy bar, I decided to stop and help. Not only was that the right thing to do, but being stuck on the side of the road is a less than perfect situation with which I am all to familiar. (see the video below)
First I tried to aide the woman by attempting to push the car out of the hole. This effort only resulted in me being covered in mud, head to toe. Finally a guy with a big truck came along, I had no problem crawling under the car to attach a tow strap, as my lone pair of jeans that I had brought for the weekend was already covered in mud, and there was no point in having anyone else sullied with generosity. Without exchanging anything save a few laughs, my anonymous interaction with the women and the guy in the truck came to a successful end as her car emerged from the ditch and we 3 drove away to continue our separate lives.
It would have been easy and in some way righteous of me to believe that my personal challenges were a rationale to just stay out of this situation. What if someone hit my car sitting along a traveled lane, I can't afford the fallout of that. What if the situation got out of control somehow, what if through aide I myself became liable? What if they time it took to help caused me to be late and loose the last scrap of gainful employment I have?
There was not an outcome other than the one that actually happened that I could afford. The risk was high, and aside from the good feeling of doing the right thing, and that my jeans came clean with minimal effort, there was no return on my labor. However there was no good to come of wallowing in self pity, and likewise, as we as a nation enter what will be a time of struggle unknown to the living memory of the majority of the living generations, It is now more important that when we can, we seek to help. Whether by misfortune or design, the pitfalls of others indirectly impact us all. In good times the general largesse of society can easily absorb those effects so that we don't notice them. In times like ours however there is not enough cushion and the difficulties of our neighbors will find a home at our doorstep. As a matter of efficiency and decency, it is in these times that the spirit of volunteerism and personal sacrifice will be the only means by which we can all survive.
In these times the great reason in the phrase "we shall all hang together or we shall assuredly hang separately" bears new relevance. It will be as important for our leaders in national and state capitols to heed this wisdom as it is for all of us as individuals. Providence will provide if we allow for it, and these discrete and silent charities will be the difference that will define our era as either a time of the resurgence of the not only the American, but the Human spirit, or a time of profound tragedy.
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