Who Will Need Your Human Touch Today?

My husband Jeff was driving in the dark to his early Saturday morning volunteer job (I was still home in bed). He’d only traveled a couple of miles when an oncoming car flashed their lights at him. Maybe a police officer ahead? A traffic light out? Jeff slowed down.

But he quickly saw the problem.

On the side of the road was a car flipped upside down. Debris and car parts covered the road. And a few more yards ahead? He saw a broken fence, a damaged tree, and eventually a second car. It had slammed through the fence, the tree, and landed in the back of someone’s house.

He pulled his truck over to see if he could help. He saw a woman standing by the car that had run into the house. She was on her phone, frantically talking to someone, telling them about the accident she’d just had. He asked if she was okay, and she said yes. She said no one else had been in her car.

He then walked over to the upside down car. There it looked worse. A woman was laid out flat on the grass. Two other passersby had also stopped and one had called 911.

One of the strangers was rushing back to her own car to grab a blanket; the woman from the accident on the grass was cold.

The second stranger was kneeling on the ground beside the woman, gently talking to her as they awaited an ambulance. She was still alive. Jeff could hear him asking her name, reassuring her she was going to be alright, that people were coming to help her.

So Jeff did what Jeff does. He found a job to do. He started cleaning the debris off the road so no other cars coming along would have more wrecks.

When he came home later that morning and told me the story, I looked for information online about the wreck but found nothing. I wondered if the woman survived. I hoped her injuries had been minimal.

And I thought more about the other two strangers that had stopped to help her: the woman with the blanket and the man with the gentle words. In this age where we so quickly “other” those we don’t know, and fear getting too involved in messy situations, and barely have time to rush from one activity to the next, these people threw all that aside. They saw other human beings in danger, and they stopped to offer whatever help they could.

I like to believe this compassion is our truest human nature. And it’s beautiful when it shows up.

Even if it’s in the simple shape of a blanket from a car and a soothing voice from a stranger. (And a man willing to clean off a dark messy road on an early Saturday morning.)

Who will show up in front of us today in need of a human touch? May our eyes be open, our hands be ready, and our hearts be loving for whatever surprises arise.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

9 thoughts on “Who Will Need Your Human Touch Today?

  1. Martha J Orlando

    Thanks so much, Lisa, for sharing this inspirational Good Samaritan story, one we all need to hear and heed in this divided country. It is exactly in these examples where we find God’s grace at work. Grateful for Jeff taking time to stop.
    Blessings always!

  2. Barbara Harper

    I’ve been on the receiving end of that touch many times, and it helps so much. So often in situations like that, I don’t know what to do. But all we can do is pray for guidance and then do whatever is at hand

  3. Lydia C. Lee

    How awful. I am glad people stepped up tho. That is the good in the terrible situation. Hope your husband is ok – that sort of thing can mess with your mind for a bit. #TrafficJamreboot

  4. Sue from Women Living Well After 50

    Thanks Lisa for sharing this wonderful story with us at #WeekendTrafficJamReboot. It is amazing how people do lend a hand and restores faith in humankind. One Christmas Eve a couple of years ago, there was an accident in the front of our townhouse complex. It was amazing how quickly neighbors appeared to lend a hand.

  5. Dianna

    That Jeff! Always on the lookout for ways to help others. And the woman with the blanket and the man with his gentle words! These are the kinds of people we need to see more of in our sad and broken world. Such a wonderful reminder to me to watch for those opportunities to help others in need. Thank you for sharing, my friend.

  6. Jennifer Wise

    This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing it so eloquently. Yes, taking the time to just talk to someone else in need (and aren’t we all in need in some way?) to reassure and give comfort is one of the best gifts we can give. What a humbling experience! Visiting from the Crazy Little Love Birds linkup.

  7. Jean Wise

    Even the little things like staying with someone or getting a blanket or sweeping the road. what a good reminder to care for one another. Hope that lady was ok. Thank you Jeff for being compassionate!

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