On this day in history, January 13, 1982, America witnessed an ordinary man perform an extraordinary act of compassion. Some of you may remember it. I do.
Air Florida Flight 90, heading to Ft Lauderdale, tried to take off in a blizzard from National Airport. Because of inadequate de-icing, it was unable to gain sufficient altitude on takeoff and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, then plunged into the Potomac River.
WHYY recounts this harrowing event
The handful of survivors from the crash clung to debris in the swirling, icy waters of the Potomac. Spectators lined the bridge and riverbank but were unable to help. Eventually, a rescue helicopter arrived and extracted four survivors from the river debris. But a fifth survivor, a woman, was too exhausted and in shock to hang on to the rescue line lowered from the helicopter.
Lenny Skutnik was a 28-year-old office assistant working in the Congressional Budget Office who was among the federal employees sent home early because of the snowstorm. He was standing on the riverbank about 30 feet from the woman in the frigid water, too weak to hold on to the rescue line. He was close enough to see her face and know that she was almost gone.
TV crews reporting the crash captured the video of Skutnik, who leaped into the frigid water, swam to the drowning woman, and pulled her to safety, where she was rushed to a waiting ambulance.
Skutnik’s compassion and courage earned national recognition, including President Ronald Reagan honoring him during the State of the Union address. I recall seeing that event and the tremendous bipartisan applause Skutnik received.
Although Skutnik brushed off the “hero” accolades, saying he was just trying to save a drowning woman, a 1992 movie, “Hero,” was later made, starring Dustin Hoffman, and was loosely based on Skutnik’s heroic action.
This flashback in history reminds us of one of Jesus’ most famous parables–The Good Samaritan, recorded in Luke 10:25-37. Jesus told this story in response to an exchange with a lawyer who asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Of course, it was to love God with all your heart. Then Jesus added to “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Wishing to justify himself, the lawyer retorted, “Who is my neighbor?”
Jesus then told a story about a man journeying from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was accosted by thieves. Beaten. Robbed. And left for dead. Both a Priest and a Levite passed by and failed to help. However, a Samaritan, despised and scorned by the Jews, saw the wounded man and “had compassion.” He bandaged his wound, took him to an inn, and assumed financial responsibility for him.
Jesus then asked, “Who was the neighbor to the wounded man?”
Giving the only possible answer, the lawyer replied, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Skutnik saw the desperate woman as his “neighbor.” The Samaritan saw the wounded stranger as his “neighbor.” The men in both cases exhibited compassion, courage, and the commitment to do something. They show an enduring truth echoed in 1 John 3:18. “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Both the parable and the real-life story remind us of the difference between awareness and action. Between emotion and response. Between knowledge and application. Christian compassion ought to issue itself in response. Scripture offers this scenario. “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing… what good is it?” (James 2:15–16).
As one writer expressed it, “Compassion that costs nothing accomplishes little.”
To whom can you be a neighbor today? To whom can you demonstrate compassion? Bear a burden? Share their load? Listen to their story? Offer a helping hand? Be a friend? Show a brother’s love?
Unlike Skutnik, your actions probably won’t make headlines or label you a hero. Still, they can make a difference in the struggling life of a fellow human being who may be drowning in sorrow, regret, hurt, anxiety, or pain.
It’s easy to justify inaction through fear, inconvenience, or the assumption that someone will help. But the Bible warns us: “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins” (James 4:17). In Jesus’ parable, the two religious leaders saw the hurting man, but did nothing. Other bystanders, along with Skutnik, saw the drowning woman but failed to act. As my favorite author, Anonymous, wrote,” Love requires movement. Mercy demands engagement.”
Jesus’ challenge to the lawyer to be like the Good Samaritan still rings true today, urging us to act with compassion and kindness-‘Go, and do likewise.”
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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