Would it happen in Granbury, America? I certainly hope not. A 31 year old Guatemalan immigrant in New York City recently intervened to assist a woman being attacked on a street in Queens. When he intervened to help the woman, he was stabbed several times.

Video surveillance cameras from nearby apartment buildings revealed at least 7 people walking by the man as he lay in the street bleeding. Some turned their heads to look. Others stopped to gawk, but nobody rendered aid to the dying man. The man had been laying there for nearly an hour by the time emergency worker arrived. By that time, it was too late. He was already deceased.

People living in large cities assume that a person sprawled out on the sidewalk is intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs. Is that an excuse not to help someone? Would it happen in Granbury, America? Would we ignore the obvious needs of someone in that kind of trouble?

I am probably not being fair, because Granbury is most certainly not New York. But I am fairly confident that our old fashioned Texas style hospitality and neighborliness would kick in pretty quickly. We are still country people who are accustomed to helping people when they need a flat changed or immediate medical attention. I am thankful to live in a place where we still care about people in concrete ways.

I need to be reminded of the Parable of the Good Samaritan today. The man in need portrayed in the parable had been beaten and left for dead. And it was the religious leaders who passed by without stopping to render aid. I am quick to pat my fellow Granbury residents on the back. They really are great people. But all of us need to be reminded of recent events in New York City and the encounter that took place on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho centuries ago.  Granbury, American is NOT New York City…I don’t think.  I suppose we are all fully capable of being inhumane.