Are There Still Any Good Samaritans? © 1998 Joe Murray Last week, I joined in with most Americans to watch the final episode of Seinfeld. The show ended with the characters being sent to jail because they didn’t help somebody in need. I don’t know if there was supposed to be a serious point. It is likely there was no point to be made because this was the show designed to be about nothing. I wouldn’t condone a law to require acts of heroism, or to punish the failure to act. I further don’t like it when someone forces me to be compassionate or volunteer. It still seems to me that required volunteerism is an oxymoron. However, the self-centered, heartless nature of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer appears to be more than fiction with many people in today’s world. A story from this week's news leads me to wonder if anyone still knows and understands the lesson of the good Samaritan or the golden rule. I know the teachings of Jesus Christ are considered persona non grata in much of the public square today. But, I still have had hope that when the chips are down, most people will have learned to do the right thing at some point in their lives and will act accordingly. For one hospital in Chicago, it seems they might do a better job of saving lives if they remembered the words of the source of life in addition to science, administrators and lawyers. According to news accounts from ABC News, 15-year old Christopher Sercye was shot for no reason by passing gang members while he was playing basketball with friends. Christopher had no connection to the gang. Friends tried to take him to nearby Ravenswood Hospital. Just a few feet from the hospital, Sercye collapsed. The hospital refused to send anyone out of the hospital to help because it was against hospital regulations. Arriving on the scene first, police asked the hospital for a gurney, which was refused. The police grabbed a wheelchair and rushed back to the boy, bringing him to the hospital after 30 minutes of lying in the alley. Christopher Sercye died a few minutes later. There is no denying that with all the government rules, regulations and ambulance-chasers lurking to sue anyone and everything, it makes one sometimes think twice before doing the right thing. It might be naive of me, but I cannot fathom just ignoring someone in true need of help -- regardless of the rules. It was the gang who shot Christopher Sercye and deserves the legal punishment, but I would hope the doctors and nurses of Ranvenswood Hospital will feel a little guilt in their hearts and do the right thing in the future. Isn’t the purpose of doctors and nurses to save lives? As usual, when I see great acts of evil and indifference committed by human beings, I am reminded of another biblical injunction that " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Fortunately, I will quickly find something else to remind me that we are also "created in God’s image." In another news story from the past week to which anyone having young children can relate, Tila Mars was working in her flower garden in Lafayette, Indiana. Her year-and-a-half-old girl, Emily, was playing in the dirt a few feet away. Tila looked up and, to her dismay, noticed Emily wasn’t there. Just then, she heard a train coming down the nearby track and unusually blowing its whistle over and over. Somehow, Emily had slipped away and was on the railroad track. The train conductor, Robert Mohr, saw the girl and the engineer slammed on the brakes to try and stop. Realizing it wouldn’t stop in time, Robert never thought about procedure or his own safety. He climbed down to the front of the train. Just as Emily was about to be crushed, he stuck his foot out and was able to kick her out of the path of the train while he jumped from the train. He landed safely. When he turned, he saw Emily had blood streaming down her face, but was crying. Emily turned out to have suffered no serious injuries and was soon reunited with her mother. Our three year old, Joseph, who is more adventuresome than his twin brother, Ryan, decided to do a disappearing act on both of his parents, like Emily did for her mother. Joseph was playing with his brother while Sharon, their mother, worked in our garden when he disappeared. I had been in the house. Both of us and his brother (who rarely lets Joseph out of his sight) were getting worried when Grandma called to say that he had traveled the quarter of a mile to her house. There is little danger because the trip that he had to make at a dead run was through a stock field and over a hill. However, if he had gone the opposite way, he would have run into a busy highway. Joseph learned his lesson for a few days. However, about a week later, he wanted me to go with him to retrieve our garbage can that had been left at the edge of the highway for the garbage man. When I said I had to finish something else, he decided to go himself. He was about halfway down our long driveway when I noticed him. If he wanted to get on the highway, it was going to be a close race for me to stop him. But, just at the moment, a car turned in the driveway and a nice lady who was a mother of a two-year old got out to head him off. I might have made it in time to avoid his going on the highway, and there is a good chance that Joseph would have stopped at the garbage can. Yet, the intervention of the lady assured that no danger would befall our son. (If Joseph’s grandma was telling this, she would point out that Joseph is just taking after his father who gave his mother fits whenever she had to take him shopping because he would take off to see the sights and would hide under clothing racks so she couldn’t find him.) It is nice to know that there are still some good Samaritans in this world -- like the lady who stepped in to assure our son would not get hurt and Robert Mohr who, with complete disregard for his own safety, had instinctively done the right thing to save a complete stranger. It might be harder to find than it once was; but if one looks for it, there are still a lot of wonderful people in this world who will not stand by while others suffer. |
