Would you do ANYTHING to save someone YOU love-even at the expense of your own life?
Would you hesitate, or need some time to think about it?
When I saw this video and
article about 9 year old Anaiah Rucker, it reestablished my belief in pure altruism.
The opening line of the
video gave me goose bumps sharing that her little sister (pictured hugging her in the pink) "can now blow bubbles without a care" because her big sister "cared enough." What they were referring to was one day as the two girls were making their routine walk across the street (while their mom was watching from the porch), when a truck came driving toward them and did not see them. Anaiah in a split second made a decision to push her sister out of the way and take the hit that would have most likely been fatal to her little sister. She also could have been killed, but ultimately ending up being knocked unconscious and her injuries eventually resulted in a lost leg.
This story obviously made me think of our heavenly Father who also took the "hit for us" and how our repentance, along with the acceptance of this truth plays such a significant part in our own healing both physically, emotionally and spiritually. It also made me think of how almost every book we have read including Telling Yourself the Truth, The Bondage Breaker, How to Help People Change, and Effective Biblical Counseling have all addressed our sin issue, selfishness, and the need to constantly replace the lies with the truth. They each made clear how often this is only done with the help of others who can help us not be blind-sided by the lies. What would it look like if we had the faith of this child to simply ACT and not even hesitate to QUESTION that truth?
When asked by the reporter what it was in that moment that caused her to act, Anaiah simply said of her sister that she "was too young to be hit like this...She would probably be gone forever." She then made the comment that still sticks with me as she paused and said "I just love her, she's like a friend." Profound. In the book Connecting Larry Crabb challenges us to fight for each other and be there for each other in Biblical community.
So I pose and ponder another question...what would it look like if we fought for each other, took "hits" for each other, stood up for each other, not thinking of any loss to ourselves...simply because we loved each other..."cared enough"... and called each other "friend?"
That kind of connection could change the world...and give many counselors a much lighter case load!
