Helplessness

I had a horrible experience this morning. I had just gotten off the redeye flight between LAX and JFK and was zooming up the Hutchinson River Parkway in the left lane. On the paved shoulder of the road, inside of the concrete barriers, was a mother duck less than one foot away from the painted line. Immediately behind the mother duck were a few very young ducklings. She was waiting for the cars to stop or at least a break in the traffic. The ducklings were trustingly waiting only for "mom" to lead the way.

The traffic wasn't going to stop nor subside long enough for mom and her ducklings to cross the highway (there was another solid line of concrete barriers waiting between the North and Southbound lanes).

I thought about taking the next exit and circling back to shoo the ducks off the roadway. But, as I thought out my plan I realized that my presence would only cause the ducks to run into the traffic to escape me. I couldn't risk that. So, I just kept driving. I prayed that God would lead them back to safety. I couldn't then and I still can't now get the picture of the ducklings out of my mind. So innocent. So trusting.

These are only ducks, you say? These are life, I say, and every living thing is a miracle from God.

Around the world thousand of babies and children are dying due to a lack of food and care. If we could see the children like I saw the ducklings and their helpless mother, would we as a country do more to save the starving children? Let's pray for God's help for all those in need but let's also do what we can with our support and contributions.