Waiting For A Rescue
Several years ago, my husband and I were away when our daughter called to tell us our new little kitten was missing. She was distraught since he was in her care. Assuring her he would eventually show up, to not fret and just keep calling him, she calmed down.
Waiting a while, she went out again and called and called him. This time, however, she began hearing a faint “meow.” Excited at finding the lost creature, she started following the sound and located the little guy forty feet above her in a tree! She had no idea what on earth caused him to climb so high. He was clearly frightened and completely unsure how to make his way down, regardless of the coaxing my son, who was now home, and she, tried. When that didn’t work our son tried climbing the tree. The fairly skinny tree with only small, flimsy limbs with nothing solid to stand on, offered only failure.
Night fell and still the kitten wasn’t down. Tearfully, my daughter called me, again. During the night both son and daughter actually went out to try again, trying a laser light, shaking the treat bag and any thing else they could think of! No luck. Then the rain started. Still the kitten remained in the tree. The next morning, he’s still there meowing pitifully, waiting for someone to please rescue him.
Rescue did finally come in the form of a boom truck by a man who cuts down trees for a living, who used his equipment to retrieve the grateful kitten. We were completely relieved!
There are all kinds of reasons people need rescuing! In the very literal sense people need rescuing from floods, avalanches, hiking and getting lost or attacked by a wild animal, a fire, snowstorm or ice storm, medical emergency like heart attacks or scores of other medical problems; hurricanes, car accidents, tornados or even terrorist attacks, given the world we live in.
There are also emotional rescues where someone needs a friend to talk to, someone willing to share their faith to someone in despair, someone to love, or someone who is sitting by the telephone trying to decide a life or death decision by committing suicide.
Sometimes a person needs rescuing from boredom, (I’ve seen the request on face book asking for someone to make contact because they were really bored!) Or what of the person walking in the rain whose car has broke down, relieved when a car comes along, or the case of wanting rescued from an over achieving talker at a party.
Still there are those who are rescued from a life of crime, or poverty, because someone believed in them and gave them a job. Other times a person is rescued from bad social graces/manners through a class, or rescued by kind hearts who consider adoption. Sometimes rescue comes in the form of a book that takes you to another place or, a phone call or visit, just when you needed encouragement. It’s important we offer aid, if we can.
Our little creature didn’t climb the tree with the knowledge he’d not be able to get down, but there are times when people expect “rescue” when they are in a tight spot, when it’s apparent they are in a “sticky” situation, due to choices they made. How does a person reconcile helping again and again those who would abuse another’s kindness?
And taking that thought one step farther, are there institutions or organizations in place that actually encourages this kind of abuse? What should be done about it? Can anything be done?