A friend was walking to work early in the morning when he smelled then spotted smoke coming from beneath the door of a house in his neighborhood. He knew a very old man lived alone in the house. He called the emergency number for the fire department while he banged loudly on the front door. With no response he grabbed a chair from the front porch and threw it through a window.

Cleaning the glass away he went into the smoke filled house. Staying low to the ground he crawled around until he found the old man in bed. He carried the old man out the front door and laid him on the grass. A few minutes later the fire department and medical response people arrived and took over. My friend later learned the old man pulled through. The fire was caused by a faulty space heater.

My friend received an award from the city for his heroic actions. He also received lots of attention from the media and other organizations for his kind and brave actions. And the old man and his family expressed their deep gratitude with a special dinner for him. He did not think he did anything special. He felt anyone would have done the same. He was just in the right place at the right time.

Not everyone would risk their life to save another. Without hesitation my friend did risk his own life. That makes him a true hero. And yes, he was in the right place at the right time. But he intentionally chose to be love in action.