Fire-fighters' altruism sets moral example

Altruism is rare these days, it seems. So, when I’m faced with those who devote their time to the good of the world around them so freely, it warms my heart, and I am humbled.

This week, I had the opportunity to meet with some of our local fire-fighters in a one-on-one setting, and I found that for the first time, in a long time, I had reason to feel this way.

It’s so easy to lose faith in humanity and the world around us. Everyday, I see something on the news that will quite literally make my stomach turn. Be it the atrocities of war, the murder of children — senseless death in all its ugly glory dominates what we see and hear, and I admit that I am scared.

And while I find these things frightening, they are not what terrifies me most. It is that we, as a society, have become so anesthetized to it, we don’t even notice anymore. It scares me to think that I’m just as unfeeling as those who commit these crimes in my apathy.

It makes you stop and wonder if there’s anything worthwhile in the world, after all.

And then you meet people like this who remind you that humanity is more than just a commodity.

I never realized just what your average volunteer fire-fighter endures, the amount of training and knowledge that goes into a single unit. The time spent refining that unit in hopes of making our communities a safer place and protecting not just our lives, but oftentimes, our livelihood.
They offer that time freely and without reservation simply because they want to.

It’s nobility at its finest.

After sitting down and talking with them just a bit, I realize how much we take them for granted. At least, I did, and I’m certain I’m not the only one.

Ricky Sirls, the newly appointed chief of the Aurora-Ross station highlighted in this week’s edition of the Tribune-Courier, had a very valid point I think we should all consider. People really have gone and gotten themselves in too big a hurry.

When was the last time you went out of your way to help another? When was the last time you stopped to think about and express gratitude to the help you’ve been given?

A fireman is at once the most fortunate and the least fortunate of men.
He doesn’t preach the brotherhood of man.
He lives it.