God's Timing

God has a way of allowing us to be in the right
place at the right time. I
was walking down a dimly lit street late one evening
when I heard muffled
screams coming from behind a clump of bushes.
Alarmed, I slowed down to
listen and panicked when I realized that what I was
hearing were the
unmistakable sounds of a struggle: heavy grunting,
frantic scuffling and
tearing of fabric. Only yards from where I stood, a
woman was being
attacked.
Should I get involved? I was frightened for my own
safety and cursed myself
for having suddenly decided to take a new route home
that night. What if I
became another statistic? Shouldn't I just run to
the nearest phone and call

the police? Although it seemed an eternity, the
deliberations in my head had
taken only seconds, but already the cries were
growing weaker. I knew I had
to act fast. How could I walk away from this? No, I
finally resolved, I
could
not turn my back on the fate of this unknown woman,
even if it meant risking
my own life.

I am not a brave man, nor am I athletic. I don't
know where I found the moral
courage and physical strength-but once I had finally
resolved to help the girl, I became strangely transformed. I ran behind
the bushes and pulled the

assailant off the woman. Grappling, we fell to the ground, where we wrestled
for a few minutes until the attacker jumped up and
escaped.

Panting hard, I scrambled upright and approached the
girl, who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing. In the darkness, I could
barely see her outline, but I could certainly sense her trembling shock. Not
wanting to frighten her
further, I at first spoke to her from a distance.
"It's OK," I said soothingly. "The man ran away. You're safe now."
There was a long pause and
then I heard the words, uttered in wonder, in amazement. 
"Dad, is that you?"

And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest
daughter, Katherine.

Do all the good you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,
At all times you can,

To all the people you can,
As Long as you ever can.

` Author Unknown `

6-2k