Early Sunday, 5:30 am, with flashlight in hand, I head out on my morning walk before the warm sun rises. I know it’s going to be a hot one today. I decide to take a different, longer route because I want to get in my three miles. Had I not chosen this way, I might have missed what was up ahead. I head to my favorite walking-trail around the pond. Up ahead, I see something alongside the walking path. I’m scanning with my flashlight because I’ve seen bobcats before and sure don’t want to encounter one this morning. The closer I get, I can see it is someone sitting just off the concrete walking path.
It is Jan (name changed to protect the innocent). I haven't seen her out and about much lately. She has just taken a big fall. Her face is bloodied and so are her clothes. I'm about to call 9-1-1, but she resists. She tells me she's fine and just wants to sit there a few minutes to recover. I’m not thinking I can stand her up, but I know what I can do. “Jan, can I pray for you?” “Yes,” she replies. "But, don't get close -- the Coronavirus!” I assure her I’m healthy and don’t have the C-virus. I pray, and then ask how she’s doing. Her arms are hurting. I plead with her to let me call 9-1-1. But, no, she won’t have it. I ask if she has someone I can call, but her only daughter is in Houston.
Thirty minutes later, another morning walker -- literally my friend's droopy-eyed, plump, very mature beagle, Walker, and his owner, Bill. Bill is with me in urging Jan to let us call 9-1-1. But no. She is adamant. I ask if she has a wheel chair at home. She does and proceeds to instruct me how to get into her garage and to get her purse on the chair in her dining room. I make my way the blocks to her home. Upon my return, more neighbors have shown up. One is Ginny, who knows Jan well and despite Jan's objections, she calls 9-1-1. In five minutes, good looking, strong young men show up. I say: "Thanks, Jan!" 😁 Jan shouts at them: “Stay away from me. The coronavirus!” They assure her that they're "clean"! Jan is in so much fear of this "alien" that has invaded our world. Thus the reason why she walks early so she doesn’t encounter people who just might have the virus.
To shorten this saga, I’ll cut to the chase. After nearly two hours, the paramedics convince her to let them take her home in their EMS vehicle. Jan refused to be taken to the hospital for the same fear of the virus. Meanwhile, I continue to pray for Jan, for her heart and soul. I think about how many people who are paralyzed in fear because their attention is on all the negative in this world. Instead of dwelling on the positive and the good, they stay fixated on what's negative.
Fortunately, I had asked Jan for her phone number in case I couldn’t find her home, her purse or wheelchair. I called her at home on my way to church. She thanked me for praying for her and seeing after her. Her daughter was on the way to her. Thanks be to God! Jan called me yesterday to thank me again. I offered to get groceries for her and she needs straws. Praise the Lord! I have a new friend that wants, and needs, a friend.
Sometimes being a Good Samaritan isn’t accepted. Sometimes people don’t want help. As Mother Teresa said, “Love them anyway. Be kind to them anyway.” I like to think that I was on time in my walk this day – taking the longer way. I might have missed her if I had gone the short way. We are here for divine purposes. We have the opportunity every day to walk out our front doors to our mission field. Jan was my mission field this day. We just never know when God has set us up to be at the right place at the right time for Him.
"So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20
