The State Patrol rolled out a common biblical descriptor for Miguel Melendez Thursday — Good Samaritan.
It’s an apt usage, even for those who deplore cliches and try to steer away from mixing faith and journalism.
Still, it didn’t take long for a wave of Internet analysts to weigh in on the actions of the man killed while stopping to assist a disabled motorist south of Chehalis Thursday.
The 39-year-old Everson resident has been called stupid and ignorant for making a split-second decision to help someone in need.
Attempting to push a vehicle across a busy freeway is undoubtedly unwise, but it could also be described as courageous and kind.
It also happens to compare quite well to the story of the Good Samaritan as related in parable by Jesus in the book of Luke.
The story tells how first a priest and then a Levite “passed by on the other side” upon seeing a man who had been beaten and left for dead in a ditch by robbers.
A Samaritan on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem stops and renders aid, going so far as to take him to an innkeeper and pay for his recovery.
“When he saw him, he took pity on him,” the parable states.
It’s easy to imagine how Melendez experienced the same feelings, seeing a fellow traveler in a precarious position, stalled in the left lane of Interstate 5. It’s unlikely the first time he had stopped to assist someone — those who make the decision to stop and help have normally done so before.
It’s often a reflection of good character and compassion, qualities that are only magnified in the face of potential danger by those who possess them.
In order to pull in front of the 23-year-old’s disabled vehicle, as the State Patrol reported, Melendez must have made a quick call based on his own instincts. Wait two seconds to decide, and he would have passed the motorist and been well on his way to Chehalis and safety.
On the freeway Thursday, there were clearly a number of motorists who drove past the 1988 Ford Mustang as it limped into the shoulder of the left lane. That doesn’t make them bad people. Stopping, as was made tragically clear, would have been an incredibly dangerous decision for anyone.
Regardless, Melendez brought his vehicle to halt and inquired how he could be of assistance. He and the other driver began pushing it over to the right shoulder. Melendez was struck and killed by an oncoming Ford Explorer before even leaving the left lane.
All that likely happened in the span of a little more than a minute, a scant amount of time to contemplate the potential consequences of a split-second decision to help a complete stranger.
In a way, it brings the meaning of the parable into focus.
It also at least seems to reflect the innate goodness of a man most people reading this never had the opportunity to meet.
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” Jesus asks in Luke, the choice being the priest, the Levite or the Samaritan.
An expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
While no one would recommend pushing a disabled vehicle across a freeway, those words are applicable and should work to remind us all of the value of helping a stranger in need.
Melendez paid for his kindness with his life because “passing on the other side” was not in his DNA.
He took pity for his fellow man. He showed mercy.
And now he has truly passed on the other side.
•••
Eric Schwartz is the editor of The Chronicle.
