Beyond the Boxes: When a Stranger's Kindness Transcends Politics

So, a story I couldn’t use on Sunday because it needed too much explanation.  It is a Good Samaritan Story. 

We were driving home from the airport late in the evening. The flight was 6 hours delayed, of course! We were tired. As we drove down the street toward home, the lights on our car got dimmer and dimmer. Knowledgeable people recognize that what was going on was that the alternator was gone. Finally, about a mile from home, all lights went out!  The car was jerking around. We stopped at a corner, and a man in a large pickup truck pulled up beside us, lowered his window, and said, “Hey, your lights are out.” “Yes, I know. We’re trying to get home,” I replied. He said, “I’ll get behind you with my flashers.” He followed us the remainder of the way, and after I basically drifted into the driveway and parked, we both got out to say hi. I said a sincere thank you to him. I asked his first name, and he asked mine, but then said, “What’s your last name?” Now, we had been traveling. We had to use our name. We had heard comments from people. I told him. He said: “Great name! I love that name.” This “Trumper” was not the Good Samaritan I wanted!  

Now, the reason I couldn’t use that story, and the explanation it needs is this. It implies that I was shocked that a Trump supporter would stop and help. Far from it. It also implies that I somehow just “don’t like” all Trump supporters. Definitely not. You can see how it gets sticky. The bottom line is that this man stopped and helped. He didn’t know my name. I didn’t know his political allegiances. I needed help. He was willing. 

Isn’t that what God calls us to do? To look beyond our political allegiances and find ways to serve one another? Most people know that I have a lot of problems with the present administration, and congress, and the courts, and BOTH parties. I am not as confident as I once was in America, but maybe, perchance, I am wrong. Could that be? 

We do need to be willing to speak out about injustices and cruelty wherever we see it, even if we cannot change it ourselves; our voices might make a difference. However, we need not judge others and put them into the neat little boxes that we think serve us so well. They don’t. Boxes can’t stop on the road and help you. People do. 

What do you think?