It's easy to say that you would help, but actually doing something becomes a bit more challenging.
After a discussion with my family, I filled out the Gift of Life Consent Form. Being an organ donor is something I have always thought that I would want to do, but the conversation is a difficult one to have. Truthfully, there was a point of reluctance and hesitation, and I was reverting back to, "I can sign it later". What brought me back to my original intention was the thought that if anything happened to those that I cared about, and someone could save their life, I would hope that they would. So the question then became; if I could potentially save someone's life, why wouldn't I?
In my leadership course, I present a number of scenarios riddled with ethical dilemmas to my students, and then ask them, "what would you do?" Answers range from what we want to believe we would do to answers that reflect the harsh realities of what actually has been done. I encourage my students to consider when we are more likely to react and what the implication of not reacting could be. Taking it a step further, I encourage them to consider when it is that we actually care enough to do something.
We've gone through a lot the past few years. From disasters -- natural and man-made -- and have lost the lives of many. Disasters that have brought us to tears, some that have made us question our purpose, and those that have challenged our beliefs. We can empathize, but it is difficult to react when one is not directly impacted first-hand by any given situation. For some, it is easier to pretend that we did what we could to help, or perhaps even easier to turn the other cheek and pretend that we didn't notice at all. For others, we can't sleep, because we want to protect and save the lives of those who are closest to us.
We each have our own battle that we're fighting, and we each have our own reasons as to why we care enough to fight those battles. My point is simply this; when do we care enough to help each other?
This post was inspired by those who are praying for the safe return of Prabhdeep Srawn.
If we can help save a life, and we are in a position to do so, I respectfully ask you, why wouldn't we?