Will You Be the One to Stop?

This week I have been feeling very sorry for myself. I have managed to strain my 'glutes' which have become so stiff that my gait resembles that of a star wars robot. The seized muscles have almost locked up any movement in my waist and manifested in terrible back pain. Any one who has experienced back-pain knows how limiting it is because anything other than sitting still results in searing pain. What this has reminded me of is, that when a part of the body is suffering, the rest of the body is also affected. All focus is on the problem and all actions are concerned with improving the situation. My irritability is directly related to the level of discomfort I am experiencing and the heat packs, massaging, deep heat and trying be still are all the actions taken to get well again. Little else occupies my mind while in this level of discomfort.

If this is a natural manner to respond to a body in distress, then why don't we have a similar instinctive response to another person in distress? Why is it that our empathy for others can run so shallow? Sure, our close family and friends get a measure of compassion but how far do we really go within our actual limits of ability? Do we do just enough to appease any guilt that might plague us or do we put it all on the line?

Taking it a step further, what are you prepared to do for complete strangers in distress?

I know we can't go around helping every single individual in need. That's just not practical. You must find an avenue that 'speaks' to you. I know that sounds a bit new agey but I'm sure you have had that inner voice speak to you about situations and impresses on you what you should do. I had a situation the other day driving home where I saw a whole family who appeared homeless and were transporting their belongings on a small flatbed trolley on the side of the M4 highway. A young couple with two boys probably around 7 and 8 years old. Something in me urged me to pull over and give them some money. I wish I could tell you a moving outcome for this story but I did not listen to the urging and dismissed it as crazy and just carried on driving. I don't know how or why that family was in the situation they were in or what they would have done with the money. All kinds of thoughts about drug abuse, being too lazy to find menial work, run through my head probably to validate my non-action. I will probably never know the why or where they end up, I just know I missed out on an opportunity to bless them. Perhaps that money would have been enough to get new clothes that made him presentable for a job that could set them back on track again? There was a "body" in distress and another part of the body (me) just drove on by, ignoring the message it had received.
I wonder how many other drivers with the same received message drove on by?
I wonder if there was one who stopped and attended to the body that was suffering?