Recently, while driving 75 mph on a crowded expressway, I saw an animal crouched in the grassy center-strip. As I got closer and whizzed by, I saw it was a dog, a Beagle.

He must have successfully crossed one set of lanes hoping to make it across the second. Poised to bolt, with his head forward, chin parallel to the ground and legs bent, he seemed to know what he was doing. I’ll never know if he made it.

Today, again on an expressway, I saw a furry lump ahead on the shoulder. Flying past, I saw it was a dog, big and Collie-like. He was lying on his side, his white belly and long fluffy tail out of place next to the road. He looked as if he was napping, but surely he’d been hit.

Was someone looking for him? Maybe a young boy or girl who considered him a best friend? If Jack had been hit by a car and found lying like that, the girls and I would weep for weeks.

Ten miles later, still thinking about the Collie, I saw another fluffy animal ahead, this time a German Shepherd. He, too, was lying on his side. I wondered about the two cars that had hit these animals. Had they seen them? Felt them? Tried to stop and help them?

It’s risky to touch an injured animal, but maybe a collar could have been removed and a call made. Surely the two owners were walking their neighborhoods calling for their pets, a disturbing picture.

Sadly, I didn’t stop either and was no better than a hit-and-run driver.

What’s the difference between someone who interrupts their day to do a good deed and someone like me? Big difference. The one who helps ends up on the nightly news, because he has rushed into a burning house or thrown himself into a river with his clothes on, intent on saving a life. A crisis erupts, and though logic says, “Step back!” he has stepped forward.

I’m the one passing by.

Scripture tells the story of a good Samaritan going out of his way to help a wounded man lying by the side of the road, much like the two dogs. Though others had stepped around him or looked the other way, this man broke stride, got his hands dirty, alleviated the crisis while risking recrimination, and helped.

What would I have done?

Heroes like this think nothing of stepping in. When interviewed afterwards they often say, “I didn’t think about it. I just did it.”

Maybe it’s a do-for-others mentality they’ve always had or a mindset they’ve developed because it’s the right way to live.

Or, maybe it’s God’s Spirit empowering someone to act with courage rather than cowardice. If that’s the case, there’s still a chance I might make the split-second choice to help someone in need.

But at a bare minimum, I should have at leas acted on behalf of two damaged dogs.

“Act with courage, and may the Lord be with those who do well.” (2 Chronicles 19:11)