“Get Help!”

By Carol Ashby

It was Friday night and football season at my high school. As drum major of the marching band, I was having a great time cheering with the band and directing stand tunes. Then things changed drastically when I heard a desperate cry: “Get help! Jeff has stopped breathing!”

I found Jeff, a tuba player, lying across a bleacher, slipping in and out of consciousness and gasping for breath. Suddenly the all-important football game faded from significance. My number-one priority was to get help for Jeff. Paramedics arrived, and it wasn’t until after Jeff was safely on his way to the hospital that I even thought about checking the scoreboard.

After the game I realized that too many times in my own life I have allowed myself to get so involved in a fun yet unimportant event of life that I failed to recognize someone’s spiritual cry for help. During the football game it bothered me to watch Jeff struggle for breath and hear the cheers and laughter of fans that had no idea that anything was wrong.

I wonder how Heavenly Father must feel seeing some of His children suffer while others carry on, oblivious of the need for assistance. Heavenly Father loves His children and wants them to look out for each other, but we cannot do that unless we tune in to others’ needs. I pray that I will not let myself be so absorbed in the routines and events of life that I fail to hear a child of God’s cry for help.