Living With IntegrityНамуна

DO THE RIGHT THING

It’s not until you’re actually thrust into an impossible situation that you know for sure how you’d react. We all hope we’d do the right thing. But would we?

For her 54th birthday, Shirley Dygert went skydiving. At 13,000 feet, Shirley and her instructor, Dave Hartsock, leapt from the plane. Strapped together for a tandem dive, the freefall was picture-perfect. But when Dave pulled the ripcord, everything went wrong.

Their first parachute only opened partway. Then their reserve chute got tangled up with the first one. Shirley remembers thinking, “So this is how I’m going to die.” But then, only one hundred feet from the ground, Dave was able to change his position, so he would land first, breaking Shirley’s fall.

Miraculously, Dave didn’t die, but the accident left him paralyzed. In an interview, he said, “People keep telling me that it was a heroic thing to do. But in my opinion, it was just the right thing to do.”

Dave’s bravery saved Shirley’s life, but it cost him dearly. That’s often the case when we do the right thing for others. Whatever the crisis – substance abuse, an unexpected pregnancy, illness, unemployment – we often suffer alongside those we’re seeking to help. It’s the example set for us by Jesus, who Scripture describes as “familiar with our sufferings.” He rescued us in our time of deepest need even though the cost for our healing was His own suffering and death on the cross.

Obviously, the price we pay when we struggle alongside others isn’t so dire. Most often, our sacrifice is financial or emotional, or we may lose some measure of comfort or convenience. Nevertheless, the willingness to do the right thing for others despite what we may lose is our challenge. It’s also our calling and a spirit of love and compassion that God will bless.