Recent events such as the mine disaster in Utah and the bridge collapse in Minnesota have led me to question how the family of victims of such tragedies can, through their grief, so openly express gratitude to people who have provided assistance.
A situation in my own life has provided clarity. Last month, close relatives were involved in a very serious motorcycle accident. One relative had to be resuscitated at the scene and remains in the hospital as I write this. The other relative is recovering at home.
When an event like this happens, I did what most people with any sense of spirituality would do: I asked people to pray. I also asked several people I know to help with making arrangements to transfer the most seriously injured relative to a hospital that is closer to their natural support network (the accident occured hundreds of miles from their home). People I contacted went out of their way to help.
Because so many people have provided assistance to our family as we work our way through this unexpected situation, I am reluctant to single out any person or group. However, I really need to express our family's gratititude to the Christian Motorcyclists Association (www.cmausa.org). My relatives were NOT members of this organization. Within a couple of days after the accident, CMA members visited my relatives in the hopsital. They had heard about the accident through other motorcyclists in the area. They offered prayers for my relatives. They also contacted other members that helped get a value on my relatives' motorcycle (for insurance purposes). They also contacted CMA members back in my relatives' hometown to alert them to the fact that my relatives' might need some help when they returned home. When the one relative did return home, CMA members immediately stopped by to offer any assistance needed.
Although this has been a difficult situation, our family is grateful on many counts. While the most seriously injured relative was in a coma, we prayed that this relative would recover enough to recognize people, to talk and to walk. About a month after the accident, this relative is doing well in all three of these areas. Any continued progress is "gravy". We need to be thankful for these very basic things!
We are also grateful to the many people who have helped, many of whom have provided assistance without being asked! In this era of war, terrorism and murder, we need to keep in mind that the vast majority of people throughout the world are extremely good and generous people.
Why does it take a tragedy to help us understand this reality? This tragedy has ended up being a gift for our family in the same sense that the tragedy of Jesus' crucifiction resulted in the gift of His resurrection for all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment