You

don't have to look far to find heros: They're close by

Pastor

Once in awhile we encounter

situations that remind us that heroes are all around us.

Most of the time, they don't look like heroes and, if you

referred to them as such, they would be embarrassed. Most

of the time the heroes among us are ordinary people

rising to the occasion during an extraordinary event.

A few weeks ago, I was in

Jacksonville, Fla., for a denominational convocation.

Several of the people from my church were also in

attendance and, late one night, about 11 p.m., following

an eventful day, several of us loaded up in the van and

headed out for a late dinner. As we neared an

intersection, Bill Shelton of Peachtree City, who was

occupying the passenger seat, shouted, "Stop the

car!"

Startled, I jammed on the

brakes as Bill leaped out of the vehicle and headed

rapidly on foot toward the extremely heavily trafficked

Arlington Expressway. Right on his heels followed Dawn De

Leo of Newnan. Bill had seen a woman pushing a man in a

wheelchair and attempting to cross the deadly highway,

when the woman stumbled and the man was tumbled out into

the flow of traffic.

Bill, a firefighter and

paramedic in Douglas County, Ga., responded instantly as

he had been trained to do. Dawn, who works for a home

health agency, ran to the man and his companion as Bill

ran into the oncoming traffic in a frantic attempt to

divert the speeding automobiles away from the dimly

lighted lane where the paralyzed man lay. Bill stood

between the cars and the hapless man, hoping that they

could see him before they ran him down. Brakes screeched,

cars swerved, but at the last moment, it seemed, the cars

crammed into the left lane without hitting any of the

four people in the street.

on the van's emergency lights and had joined Bill in the

street, as his wife Donna stood guard over our vehicle.

Another person, a young man on a motorcycle, also hurried

over to lend any assistance that might be needed. By now,

all the cars were carefully avoiding the bundles of

clothes in the roadway and Bill went back to attend to

any injuries that man may have suffered.

Fortunately, with the

exception of a bruise or two, the 40-something year old

man was unharmed. As he profusely expressed his

appreciation to Bill and Dawn, his companion poked him on

the arm and told him to look behind him. As his eyes fell

on me, he grinned broadly and said, "Wow!" At

that point, I realized that I was still wearing my

clerical collar and was easily recognizable as a clergy

person. He continued, "Now I know that the Lord was

looking out for me tonight!"

"He certainly

did," I thought. "He sent Bill and Dawn to your

rescue!"

It only took a few moments

to pick the man up and return him to his wheelchair and,

very shortly, he and his companion safely crossed the

busy highway and disappeared into the warm Florida night.

The young man in the black motorcycle suit pulled down

the visor on his helmet, waved and sped into the night as

the rest of us returned to the van to head to the

restaurant.

As I watched my friends

interact over the next hour, I reflected on the events

that had just transpired on the expressway.

Bill Shelton, a man in his

50s with a warm smile and an engaging personality, has

made a living saving lives and training others to save

lives. Now, here in Florida, far from home, and on

vacation, he unhesitatingly threw himself into the

dangerous traffic to save a homeless man (for such was

his appearance) from being horribly killed as he lay

helpless and paralyzed on the street. Dawn, a deeply

devoted believer in her early 20s, demonstrated no less

courage as she, too, plunged into the dark night to help

this nameless couple.

A dozen or so other cars

had stopped to allow their drivers to stare, but, with

the exception of the unknown cyclist, no one else left

the safety of their vehicles to render aid. No one else

put themselves at risk for another human being in need.

And this is why I told Bill

and Dawn as we returned to the hotel, "You guys are

my heroes." They brushed it off, of course, seeing

nothing significant in their actions. But today, in

Jacksonville, Florida, a man lives because Bill and Dawn

acted instantly and decisively, even at the risk of their

own safety. He probably thinks of them as heroes too.

[Father David Epps is

rector of Christ the King Charismatic Episcopal Church,

which meets each Sunday at 10 a.m. in the

Carmichael-Hemperley building on Ga. Highway 74 in

Peachtree City, Ga. He may be contacted online at [email protected] ]