Apparently, the last 24 hours in my life had a theme. Last night, I rescued some abused pets. This morning, I pondered on a rescue I performed last summer and hoped the gentleman is doing well. On the way to work, I pondered when I was rescued several years ago and a rescue I have not been asked but would be willing to do. You see, rescues are a matter of love, and I was surprised to discover as I pondered these things that I love as much as I do. I would move heaven and earth to rescue something or someone that I loved.
For over two hours last night, a friend of mine from Florida tried to convince me to help her rescue a family of sugar gliders. They are malnurished, inappropriately nourished, inappropriately housed, and they have a young joey who will probably die if someone does not intervene. Gliders are my friend's passion, and although I do not have any inclination to add more pets to my house, I have compassion on them and on my friend, and so I agreed to pay the ransom to redeem them from their disheveled state and care for them until she can rehome them somewhere where they will be loved and nurtured. I know from my own experiences breeding beagles that some of the people involved are interested only in the money that pets generate and care very little for the animals themselves. It's probably why I was never interested in working in a pet store, because I feared I might want to take home all of the animals, and it's probably why I don't work at the pound because I would not be able to put down an animal. I once had to put down my sister in law's dog (i forget why it became my burden), and it was hard. I did not have the means then; I do now.
Last summer, I arrived for class one night just in time to avoid being hit by another car. I watched the driver keep going until he slammed into a concrete barrier. Knowing that at this time of night on the edge of the desert and campus in a dark area nobody else was likely to respond, I responded to the scene. The driver had been thrown through the windshield although not ejected due to his seatbelt. He bled from several lacerations and seemed incoherent. For the first time in my life, I called 911 and monitored the driver until paramedics and police arrived to tend to the man. I left my statement and even made it to class on time. None of my students came over although many of them recognized my car at the scene, and I decided that it was a good thing I responded. I hope the man is doing well.
About seven years ago, I found myself stuck in snow just north of Berlin NV in an area void of cell coverage and human habitation. Within minutes of rising from prayer, a truck drove around the corner. The driver, about whom I can recollect very little, cut branches from the trees and pushed me back up onto the road, and then he followed me down the mountain until we were clear of snow albeit distal to the highway. At this point he vanished. I have pondered many times the fortuitous nature of my own rescue that day since nobody knew where I was exactly or was likely to go look for me.
The funny thing about rescue that runs a common theme in these stories is that the rescue only comes once the danger is present. We are usually not spared from danger as often as we are rescued from it. In many cases, the rescue only comes when people ask for help. You see, you can't really help people who don't want your help. I pull over on the highway often only to be waved on by people who prefer to do things themselves or already secured aid. The offer stands; what I await is for them to accept the offer and ask me to help.
Likewise, when it comes to our lives, the price of rescue has already been paid. What remains for us is to avail ourselves of the atonement and call upon God and His Christ to save us. He never intercedes against our will. He never comes and forces us to follow Him or come with Him. He is ready any time if and when we call to come to our aid with legions of angels if necessary to deliver us out of the Egypts of our lives and lead us to a land of promise. This He does because He loves us, both the rescue as well as waiting until we ask. You see, when you force a man to be rescued, the man is often angry, but the man who asks for, receives, and values the rescue is prone to pass on the beneficence afforded him.
I am not someone who imposes his will on others even when I love them. I know plenty of people who do things "for your own good" when in reality it's not about you at all in some cases. Like my friend, like the pet, and like the bleeding stranger, I offered to help because I loved them, or at least because I didn't have any reason not to love them. Although I am not able to do everything, I offer what I can. It's just an offer, and they are free to accept or reject it. When people wave me on, I keep driving, but at least I gave them the chance to accept it. I stand ready to assist, I have the means to assist, and I will come rescue you if I can and if you ask and pay forward the rescues I experienced that made it possible for me to be alive today.
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