A Hero For Our Times
Photo Credit: Yashar Ali
What would you do if, while out for a fun evening with friends at a restaurant, a clearly mentally ill person walked through the door, pulled out an assault weapon and started shooting? The level of terror that rises up in my heart just contemplating that scenario is enormous. The impulse to flee, to hide, to panic would, I think, overwhelm me.
Which is what makes the extraordinary courage and presence of mind exhibited by James Shaw Jr. all the more amazing.
By now, everyone in this country is aware of the story of the tragic shooting at the Waffle House restaurant in Nashville, and the amazing bravery of James Shaw Jr. who rushed the shooter and disarmed him, despite having no weapons of his own, and in doing so, saved countless lives.
But as the news cycle rushes forward, inevitably leaving this story to fade into the background, I've been sitting with it a while longer, contemplating what it means.
As amazing as his heroism was in the moment, Shaw exceeded that by the way in which he chose to act in the days following. James insisted that he "just did what anyone would do", and at other times stated that he wasn't a hero because he was just trying to save his own life.
Immediately after being released from the hospital where he had been treated for the injuries he sustained in disarming the gunman, he sought to join with a greater community at his church to express gratitude for having survived. From there, he went back to the hospital to visit with the surviving victims and their families. And instead of seeking contributions for his own needs, he set up a 'Go Fund Me" page to benefit those other shooting victims.
Wow. Just wow. This is the kind of hero we need, a hero that our times desperately calls for, someone who exhibits grace, compassion, humility, selflessness. Someone who leverages the attention he receives for his own extraordinary courage to create a platform to help others.
I want to remember the example set by James Shaw Jr., rather than letting it fade into the background. While it may not be true that anyone would do what he did in the extraordinarily dangerous circumstances he found himself in that night at the Waffle House restaurant, it is perhaps easier for us all to aspire to the example of compassionate leadership that he set in the days afterward.
"I'm not a hero," says James Shaw Jr. "I'm just a regular person." Our country needs far more 'regular people' like him.
Notes:
- If you'd like to contribute to James' fundraising campaign to benefit the Waffle House shooting victims, you can find it here.
- Journalist Yashar Ali has started a "Go Fund Me" campaign to honor the heroism exhibited by James Shaw Jr.
- And if you believe we all deserve to live in a safer, saner country where we're better protected from deranged gunman armed with assault weapons, I urge you to join and contribute to any one of the organizations that are lobbying and working for the enactment of sensible gun laws. One of those that I support is Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense.