Will we lose heart?

The recent, tragic shooting in Melbourne has made me think...

In our society people already seem to be fairly reluctant to get involved with anything that might be a bit risky. How often do we hear of someone in need of assistance who is just ignored? Someone being assaulted on a street, calling for help, and people peering out from behind the safety of their curtained windows, but not doing anything to assist - often not even calling the police, because there is this interesting phenomenon I heard about in a social psychology class (it seems like decades ago now!), like a perverse group mentality where everyone assumes that someone else has already called for assistance (Douglas Adams would have called it a classic case of SEP- Someone Else's Problem).

For a Melbourne lawyer and Dutch backpacker who didn't think the assault of a woman in broad daylight on Monday morning was Someone Else's Problem, things didn't work out well for them. Were they heroes? Or did they just do what any 'decent' person would have done? I wonder what I would have done if I were there at the time; and can't honestly say I know what I'd do. It's interesting that there seemed to be lots of people who witnessed the shooting (and so presumably also witnessed the man assaulting the girl before he pulled the gun) and yet, it seems that only these two guys actually tried to help. Maybe there are other people, who like me, weren't really sure of what they should do. (Does that make us cowards?)

So does this mean that people will now be even less likely to help a fellow human being in need? I really hope not... but sometimes it's hard not to lose heart. At times like this, I can really relate to the Psalms of lament:

O Lord, God of my salvation,
when, at night, I cry out in your presence,
let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.

For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
I am counted among those who go down to the Pit;
I am like those who have no help,
like those forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.
You have put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves.

Psalm 88:1-5