The Crickets Song

Do you try and do the right thing? Most of us do. I know that, I, for one, have devoted a large portion of my life to doing missions work and helping those less fortunate around the world. Many times I have put my safety and comfort on the shelf, to be a beacon of hope to those in need. I have tried to do it humbly and not with any personal gain in mind. Though admittedly, there have been times when I have had to consciously keep my ego in check, as to not make my time serving about me and the attention I was getting from doing it.

Would I say I care about others? Yes, I do. No questions about that. Would I do it for those I don't know? Of course, I do it all the time. After all my rallying cry has always been Matthew 25:40; “And the Lord will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ So in the parable of the good samaritan, where do I fall? As the one the comes along and helps, right? Well, in theory at least.

Last month this theory was put to the test, and I am sad to say I failed, miserably. Yes, me, Mr. travel the world helping people, loving them, feeding them, I failed the true test. I was driving through the barrio of Liberia, a moderate sized town about 20 minutes from our home in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The particular barrio was just outside of town and was quite poor with an extremely rough and rocky road. I was coming back from picking up my car at the mechanic and though I was not overly late, I was on a timetable. As I am driving and older guy obviously well beyond drunk was staggering down the road. As I approached him I slowed way down, less he stagger in front of my car. I can see as he gets closer that he is babbling something to himself. Immediately, I feel bad for him.

My pity rapidly turns into panic as I watch him fall face first onto the rocks. He landed on his face, no attempt by his hands to break the fall. Yep here it is, my confession. I watched as he tried to get up. Bloodied and unable to right himself, I watched. Knowing I probably could not understand his inebriated version of Spanish. Knowing, I did not want his blood all over my car. Knowing, that I had no idea where to take him or what to do. I drove on, hoping the next car coming down the road would have his good Samaritan. As I failed him, I failed myself, and I failed my God!

So now I sit here knowing that it is not Matthew 25:40 that guided me when the chips were down, but Matthew 25:45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me."

Yes, Lord, I have failed you, forgive me. I am not the man I thought. I am not the man I want to be. I heard my conscience, but chose to ignore it out of convenience. This has been riding on my for the last six weeks. I doubt the man died, I doubt it was the first, nor last time he walked that street with the same result. But I could have made a difference, I could have been the one to promote the change. I didn't, but I pray that next time I will have the courage to do it.

So my prayer for each of us is that we sing the song of Jiminy Cricket and always let your conscience be your guide. We know what is right, but are we strong enough to do it? So far, I have yet to prove myself, but I refuse to give up!

Yhea God