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| Screenshot of Photo by David Lipnowski/Getty Images |
It caught a lot of attention in the sports world, and I saw it a lot in my social media feed (which, I acknowledge, is heavily influenced by my personal hockey preference – which was one of the teams involved!). As it turned out, the fight dispersed, the human barrier was not hurt, and thankfully the player’s injuries are minor.
Point being; this player did not need to do this. He could have stayed out of it, he could have engaged in the fight, etc. Yet he put himself in-between, with his back to the fight, as it was the best way to protect someone who needed help. It was dangerous, it was fearless, it was dignified. And it happened VERY fast.
It made me ponder how we might all reflect on such actions – from a hockey game even! – into our own lives. If we see someone being accosted on the street, would we intervene? If we learn of someone being slandered, do we speak against the defamation? If we witness bullying, do we step in, even if it may hurt?
So often, we just stop – as bystanders, we don’t know how to get involved without getting hurt. Too often, we find it easier to allow abuse to happen rather than put ourselves at risk. Yet I find myself returning to the hockey players’ actions, and wondering how to apply that deep-rooted sense of helping others to my own life.
I will continue to pray on it, asking God to help, to remind me of the benefits of the risk of faith, the commitment of community, and the power of doing the right thing. Are we, as a society and as a church, ready to embrace the call to do the right thing?
Your question makes me wonder...when masks are mandated in a public place, like my hamlet's small liquor store, where on a weekend the only clerk is a small older female (wife of the owner), and I'm just there -- another small female in her late sixties, finishing my transaction, wnhen two burly young guys (pick-up truck running outside) stroll in -- no masks, no getting ones from those provided, no hand-washing at the pump provided -- and they nod and say hello as they pass me and the clerk on their way to the back...We're gob-smacked. I say to the clerk, "What can you do?" She -- masked, from behind her thin plastic barrier, replies, "Nothing. I can do nothing." I want to say to these young men, "Do you cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze? Do you wash your hands after using the washroom? Do you know why you were taught to do these things? Yes? Then why won't you wear a mask in the presence of a very contagious and deadly virus?" But...I don't say those things. I take my leave as they saunter back from the beer cooler with their purchase. I don't even take down the truck's license plate. I'm too frightened at what might transpire, the damage they could do to me and/or the clerk and to the merchandise (all those glass bottles)...Like the young woman who filmed George Floyd's murder, but wished she could do more, though powerless against mace-and-gun-toting officers. Rocks and hard places and we're caught between them.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult indeed. And there are no easy answers. Blessings!
DeleteI say Amen
ReplyDeleteAmen indeed!
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