God has a way of allowing
us to be in the right place at the right time.
I was walking down a dimly
lit street late one evening when I
heard muffled screams
coming from behind a clump of bushes. Alarmed, I
slowed down to listen
and panicked when I realized that what I was
hearing were the unmistakable
sounds of a struggle: heavy grunting,
frantic scuffling and
tearing of fabric. Only yards from where I stood,
a woman was being attacked.
Should I get involved?
I was frightened for my own safety and cursed
myself for having suddenly
decided to take a new route home that night.
What if I became another
statistic?
Shouldn't I just run to
the nearest phone and call the police?
Although it seemed an
eternity, the deliberations in my head had taken
only seconds, the cries
were growing weaker. I knew I had to act
fast. How could
I walk away from this? No, I finally resolved, I could not
turn my back on the fate
of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking
my own life.
I am not a brave man,
nor am I athletic. I don't know where I found
the moral courage and
physical strength -- but once I had finally resolved
to help the girl, I became
strangely transformed. I ran behind the
bushes and pulled the
assailant off the woman. Grappling, we fell
to the ground, where we
wrestled for a few minutes until the attacker
jumped up and escaped.
Panting hard, I scrambled
upright and approached the girl, who was
crouched behind a tree,
sobbing. In the darkness, I could barely see
her outline, but I could
certainly sense her trembling shock. Not wanting
to frighten her further,
I at first spoke to her from a distance.
"It's OK," I said soothingly."The
man ran away. You're safe now."
There was a long pause
and then I heard the words, uttered in wonder,
in amazement. "Dad, is
that you?" And then, from behind the tree,
stepped my youngest daughter,
Katherine.
MORAL OF THE STORY
Do all the good you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you
can,
At all times you can,
To all the people you
can,
As Long as you ever can.