Good Samaritan-itis

There are many things that all human beings have in common. We all get sick at one time or another. We all die, as a matter of fact one out of every one persons die. We all grow from the moment we are born, emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. We all feel horror of watching someone get mugged and beat up. Whether you live in the rain forests, the mountains, jungles, or big cities, we all poop the same way, out of the same part of the body. We all need air to breath. We all feel pain. We all need water to drink. We all cry. We all laugh. We all feel the grief attached to the death of a loved one. We are all the same on the inside, physically, lungs, heart, veins, organs, blood, no matter what ethnicity you are, black, white, brown, yellow.

We all feel compassion when a tragedy happens like the horrors of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the Tsunami that hit India, the earthquakes that hit China, Hurricane Ike that hit the coastal cities of Texas, etc. All of a sudden people from all over the world want to help. I remember when the attacks of 9/11 happened and firefighters from all over the world went to New York City to help out. These are people from other races, ethnicities, religions, all coming together to help. Even enemies came to help out. I remember growing up in the late 1970's when New York City was hard hit by a major power outage. Neighbors who didn't get along were helping each other. It was strange to see blacks and whites helping each other without regard to racial tensions or differences. Everyone treated one another as equal and with compassion.

It seems at times like this that it is somehow inside of all mankind to forget what separates them politically, religiously, racially, and in other ways, in order for acts of compassion to flow through them and towards those in distress and in deep need. I wonder why that is.

If mankind evolved out of a chaotic event, and chaos is seen in everything around us, how can all mankind have the same reactions to these events? You don't see animals reaching out to help those in need. I mean if we evolved from apes, wouldn't apes then be helping us in times of distress? There would be some kind of feeling in them to help us, wouldn't that be a logical assessment?

I think it is way simpler than that, but harder for many to believe. I believe that God, the Creator has built the capacity for compassion and love into all mankind. Why would all human kind have compassion like this and not each and every species of animal? Since some believe that we are linked to and have evolved from animals? How could compassion, so uniform in all humans come out of chaotic event that caused evolution, according to scientists? They are unable to explain this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an animal hater. I've had several dogs throughout my lifetime. I've rode horses and swam with dolphins. I saw my own dog save my mother's life once. I've heard of heroic acts by dogs and dolphins, but, they do not have the compassion of human beings. It's just that I've never seen a dolphin walk in dry land to save someone from being mugged. I've never seen a cat moved by compassion to start raising funds to meet the needs of the people in New Orleans. I've never seen a horse swim in the ocean to save someone from drowning. I've never seen or heard of a discovery of half human, half animal hybrids walking around. Where's the linkable evidence?

I believe it was God who gave human kind the great capacity for love and compassion. I believe God built some scriptural instincts in us to do these things. The scriptural instincts come from Proverbs 24:11, "rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering to slaughter." Proverbs 25:21, "If you enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink." Ephesians 4:32a, "Be kind and compassionate to one another..."

Could you do me a favor? If you ever see a dolphin walking on dry land and helping someone, a cat raising funds for the needy, or a horse swimming to rescue someone, would you let me know? While you're at it, take some pictures and you'll be a millionaire in no time!