You walk by them. You may even talk to them. Perhaps it’s once a week. Perhaps it’s once a day. You say hello and politely ask how they are doing. They say okay, and that’s the end of the conversation. But deep down, they are hurting and they are struggling… and you know it.
How many times do we know someone is hurting and yet we simply walk the other way? We don’t want to “invade their privacy”. We don’t want to “offend them”. We don’t have time to “deal with this”. We come up with so many reasons not to involve ourselves in someone else’s problem.
Michael Slater describes being told the following true story in his book, Becoming a Stretcher Bearer.
“Betty told me about the lake just outside her city where, in summertime, many people gather, picnicking, swimming and generally enjoying themselves. One day a young boy swimming in the lake met with some difficulty. No one knew if he had developed a cramp or what. But everyone present knew that, far out there in the lake, the boy was calling for help.
“Yet no one responded. His cries soon turned to screams. Still, not a single person moved. Then, after a few minutes, no more cries or screams were heard. The boy had slipped beneath the surface, and only silence remained where he had disappeared from view. He had drowned because no one had even tried to help him.
“Betty’s question continued to hang in the air over us. How can people see someone in need and not respond?”
While I hope this is a very rare situation, it still happens. We’ve all been there. We’ve all done it. We’ve looked the other way when we knew someone needed help. And sometimes, we lose them.
On the other side, some people are afraid of asking for help in fear of being rejected or discredited. “What do you have to be depressed about?” they are asked. “You just need to get over it and move on,” they are told. So they remain in silence, wearing a mask to keep people from getting too close. Yet on the inside, they are broken and feel alone.
I challenge you to take that step towards reaching out and helping someone who may be struggling with the harshness of this life. As Slater says, “To sit back and not become involved in another’s life is simple, easy and safe. But then no one is helped. The one who dares to risk himself or herself is the one who will possibly save someone else from drowning.”
In memory of all those we failed to help… and lost.
After drying her off the best that I could, we took off her jacket and tied it around her waist (so it wasn’t obvious to the other shoppers). She took her brother’s jacket, her brother took his older sister’s jacket, and then she took my jacket. Yep. This will work until we get home.
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