A police officer simply being alert during patrol duties contributed to a woman’s life being saved in Roanoke, VA recently. 28 year old N.D. Comas heard a woman screaming, as he worked with the windows of his patrol car rolled down. She was threatening to jump off a bridge into the path of an oncoming train. She was screaming into a cell phone she held in one hand and had a knife in another hand.

As he ran toward her, she jumped onto a platform five feet below the sidewalk. And then as she prepared for a second jump into the path of the train, the officer grabbed her body with his left hand while he held onto the rail with his right hand. Most of her 140 pound body was over the edge of the rail, as he held onto to her. Other officers soon arrived and helped both the officer and the troubled woman to safety.

During an interview on the bridge after the incident the officer said two things that I find to be significant. He stated: You don’t have the ability to think. Sometimes you just have the ability to react, and that’s based on training. Secondly he noted that he was confident that his partners would arrive quickly and that gave him confidence to hang on and save the woman’s life.

Those are good principles of survival on the streets, but perhaps they have an even greater application. As all of us work with people in a variety of intense encounters, we too should always be prepared to react instinctively without thinking. His assumption that back up would arrive quickly turned out to be a safe one. I would encourage all of us to pay attention in our surroundings. Be alert. I know that I for one am very easily distracted! Someone could be depending on us for their very life in the flash of a split second.

I can’t help but think about these same two principles in regard to all kinds of human relationships as well. When someone in our family is troubled, do we have the ability react without thinking? Do we possess such good relational instincts, that we know intuitively what to do? When someone close to us is really struggling, do we choose to run to their aid? It could make a difference in their life that is hard to fathom.

I am thankful today for alert, well trained, well-conditioned officers who are ready to assist someone in a heartbeat. As a chaplain, I serve with those guys every single day. It is a blessing. I am equally thankful to serve with people who are alert to the emotional and spiritual needs of people who are crying for help. Hopefully if we are paying attention we can help that troubled person long before they get to the railing on the bridge…