Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran, was waiting for the downtown local train at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan.  It was lunchtime, and he was taking his two daughters, Syshe, 4, and Shuqui, 6, home before work.

Suddenly, a young man standing nearby collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing. Mr. Autrey and two women rushed to help.  The young man, Cameron Hollopeter, managed to get up, but then stumbled to the edge of the platform and fell onto the tracks between the two rails.

Within seconds the headlights of the No. 1 train could be seen approaching. Making a split second decision, Mr. Autrey leapt into the drainage trench on top of Mr. Hollopeter, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep.

The train’s brakes screeched but could not stop in time, and several cars rolled overhead within inches of Autrey’s blue knit hat, smudging it with grease. Mr. Autrey heard the onlooker’s screams. “We’re ok. down here,” he yelled, “but I’ve got two daughters up there. Let them know their father’s ok!”

Power to the tracks was cut, and crews worked quickly to get them out.  Mr. Hollopeter was taken to the hospital with only bumps and bruises, police saying it appeared that he had suffered a seizure.

Mr. Autrey refused medical help, because, he said, “nothing was wrong.” But he did visit Mr. Hollopeter in the hospital before heading to his night shift. “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” Mr. Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.”

Act on your instinct to help! Don’t be a bystander in life when you can be a participator! You can find the courage to care and you can change your nation, your family and your life! Don’t ask what life can do for you, but rather ask, “What can I do to better the lives of others?”

In Jim Stovall’s famous book The Ultimate Gift, we read the story of a man striving to make his billions, who at the end of his life, leaves a broken, miserable family that has become accustomed to living on his wealth. His only son who possessed a work-hard-help-others attitude, died in a tragic accident. The Ultimate Gift was left to that son’s son, who was wasting away on his grandfather’s monthly stipend.

What could this ultimate gift be?  All of the family expected it to be money, and lots of it!  But the grandson was given an opportunity for a journey where he would discover hard work, purpose, friendship, giving, and even stewardship!

Receipt of his inheritance would be based upon his ability to rise above the challenge his grandfather had set for him in a series of tests. This young man discovered the ultimate gift was not in having but in giving life, working diligently, using his talents and rising to the challenge at hand! Research shows that individuals who know and exercise their character strengths live happier, more successful lives—they have stronger relationships, more engagement at work, and greater life balance.

On December 7, 1988, an earthquake devastated the northwestern section of Armenia, killing an estimated 25,000 – 50,000 people. After the earthquake, a father rushed to his son’s school only to discover that the school had been flattened. The father remembered dropping off his son earlier that day, and as he did every day he told his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be here for you!”

When the father saw the school he feverishly began removing rubble from where he believed his son’s classroom had been. The other parents were wailing, “My son!” “My daughter!” Some even told the father to go home, that there was no chance any of the students were alive. But the father replied, “I made my son a promise that I’d be there for him anytime he needed me. I must continue to dig.”

Courageously, he proceeded alone. He simply had to know—is my boy alive or is he dead? With seemingly supernatural strength, this father continued to dig…for 8 hours…12 hours…24 hours…36 hours.

Then, in the 38th hour, he heaved away a heavy piece of rubble and heard voices. “Armand!” he screamed. “Dad! It’s me—Armand! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save us! Dad, take them out first, I know you’ll be here for me!”

Moments later the father was helping his son Armand and 13 other frightened, hungry, thirsty boys and girls climb out of the debris. How could this happen? When the building collapsed, these children had been spared in a tent-like pocket. When the townspeople praised Armand’s dad, his explanation was, “I promised my son, ‘No matter what, I’ll be there for you!'”

The ancient scriptures say, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Scripture: Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

My brother-in-law Pat is one of those amazing individuals who exemplifies the “courage to care.” Several years ago he was fighting a fire in downtown Detroit, a city that is infamous for the fires set in its scores of abandoned buildings.

What did Pat do? He jumped through a tiny basement window just in time to stop a man from setting a policewoman on fire! Somehow Pat wrestled her free of the assailant who had just doused her with gasoline and had a lighter in his hand!  His act of courage saved the woman, the house, and possibly his entire company.

I asked Pat, “How did you do this?” His response was simple: “You do the things you must to protect people. I am not sure I even thought about it…I just acted!”

I want to challenge you today to act on your instinct to help! Don’t be a bystander in life when you can be a participator! You can find the courage to care and you can change your nation, your family and your life!

Don’t ask what life can do for you, but ask, “What can I do to better the lives of others?” Remember Jesus said, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends!

Scripture: John 15:13 (NIV)

In the spring of 1883 two young men graduated from medical school. The two differed from one another in both appearance and ambition. Ben was short and stocky. Will was tall and thin. Ben dreamed of practicing medicine on the affluent United States East Coast. Will wanted to work in a rural community.

Ben begged his friend to go to New York where they could both make a fortune. Will refused. His friend called him foolish for wanting to practice medicine in rural USA. “First of all,” Will said, “I want to be a great surgeon. The very best, if I have the ability.”

Years later the wealthy and powerful came from around the world to be treated by Will at his clinic. Today, the Mayo Clinic is one of the leading educational and research hospitals in the world. Why? Because someone chose a life mission to be the very best they could be, and in doing so opened a pathway for scores of others to follow!

Who is your neighbor? Who are you required to help in this world? Should you be involved in the business of rescuing others, or is it just better to sit by and watch people suffer?

A religious leader asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied with a story about a man who was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes and beat him, leaving him almost dead.

A priest saw the injured man and quickly passed on the opposite side of the road. So did a second priest! Then a Samaritan man, considered lowlier than a dog but evidently having some wealth, took pity on the stranger, bandaged his wounds, put him in an inn and cared for him.

Jesus then posed this question, “Which of these three men was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hand of the robbers?” The religious leader responded, “The one who had mercy on him.”

In every human soul, there is a void—an emptiness, waiting to be filled. What will you pursue to fill that void? Success? Family? Prosperity? Education? Or are you willing to step out and set a different standard for your life? A standard that can make a difference?

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window and saw a small girl being swept along in a rain-flooded drainage ditch. Blankenship knew that farther downstream the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road, and then emptied into the main channel.

Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child.

He hurled himself into the deep, churning water, and when he surfaced, was able to grasp her arm. They tumbled over and over until within about three feet of the deep drain, Ray’s free hand felt something—possibly a rock—protruding from the bank. He clung desperately as the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. “If I can just hang on until help comes…” he thought.  He did better than that.  By the time the fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock.

On April 12, 1989, Ray was awarded the Lifesaving Silver Medal by the US Coast Guard. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew…Ray can’t swim!

Lao Tzu said, “From caring comes courage.” And I challenge you today, be courageous—put on the hero’s courage! What is the hero’s courage? It is knowing that you have the power to help someone else, and that you have the power, or the courage, to care. It is the fuel that makes a hero! http://bit.ly/1GM2cPj

What does offering help to someone else provide? Does it provide a sense of personal fulfillment? Or perhaps a reminder that your situation may not be all that bad?

I often tell people that when you help someone else you sense the presence of God helping people, and this in turn is a reminder that God will help you.  I recently received a letter from someone who took this to heart.  She said:

“Thank you for your message about helping somebody else when you’re going through personal problems. My younger brother is dying of brain cancer. For much of his life he has been homeless and battling alcoholism. My other sister was too drunk to properly care for him or even to talk to the hospital about his needs.  But, today I went on visitations for my sidewalk Sunday school and I was able to pray with a mom that has been fighting depression. Seeing the kids excited about Sunday school tomorrow brought me true joy. It’s so true when you’re going through something, reach out to somebody else and that’s where you find God’s strength.”

What giants are you facing in life today? Remember that as you get busy helping others, you will find the strength to defeat seemingly insurmountable problems.  Maya Angelou said, “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”

Remember, helpers need wisdom, strength and resource.  God promises an abundant supply for those who are willing to go the extra mile. The scripture says, Give and it shall be given back to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together! With the same measure you give it shall be given back to you!

Let’s get busy helping someone today. When you add great value to someone else’s life, you will recognize just how valuable you really are!

Scripture: Luke 6:38 (paraphrased)

Four things happen when I solve problems for others:

• First, I recognize that I have the ability to provide solutions.
• Second, this instills a confidence which inspires me to resolve my own difficulties.
• Third, I recognize that I can believe in myself because there is someone greater that also believes in me.
• Lastly, my victories often open doors of victory for others.

Remember when facing personal difficulties that you have a teammate! Don’t be self-absorbed when seeing the problems that others face.  Gordon Hinckley said, “…the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves…if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”