At a time when so many are casually labeled "heroes," regardless of whether they fit the bona fide description, I nominate the heroic courage that Arkansas State Trooper First Class Roy Moomey displayed not long ago when he ignored his own safety and put his life on the line to stop a man driving the wrong way on Interstate 40 near Alma.
Moomey remained healing in a hospital this week in serious yet thankfully stable condition after he steered his police cruiser headlong into a vehicle driven by Matthew C. Choate, who died in the crash. Moomey's vehicle was shredded. It's difficult to fathom how he survived such a selfless act in a situation where he, too, could so easily have perished.
I'm sure many Arkansans feel as I do about standing to salute Trooper Moomey and his unwavering devotion to protecting the rest of us on the highway from harm. Please know with certainty, Trooper, that many prayers are with you as you recover. Some would say you must have had a guardian angel buckled in the seat beside you.
Kina survived
Those of us who've experienced the unconditional affection dogs bring to a relationship undoubtedly shared the joy of Greenwood police officer Dennis Wisner when his German Shepherd K-9 partner, Kina, was discovered alive last week after being shot twice.
The dog ran away after being wounded during the gunfight between police officers and a suspect in which another genuine hero, Sebastian County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Cooper, was killed, and Hackett police Chief Darrell Spells miraculously avoided death when a bullet grazed his temple. Some 2,500 paid tribute to Cooper at his funeral in Fort Smith the other day.
Kina was found two days later near the shooting scene. She still could walk as Kina enthusiastically reunited with Wisner.
After a veterinarian treated her for her injuries (one barely missed being fatal), Kina was receiving fluids, on the mend and still joyful at again being alongside her partner.
Quite an enduring and endearing bond these devoted creatures form with us, isn't it?
The unexplained
Howard Munroe of Little Rock had an interesting letter to the editor published last weekend. While he says he appreciates the sentiment I offer when I write about "GodNods," he wonders why these mysterious metaphysical signs that occur with so many people don't occur with everyone.
"The implication by Masterson is that if you are one of the righteous and need help, God may come up with some subtle message that prove he exists and is listening to us.
"I might be more willing to believe in 'GodNods' if they only occurred to certain types of people, namely devout Christians, " he continues. "Unless Masterson is willing to admit that all faiths have a claim to the divine, then how does he explain these same types of occurrences in people of every faith or those with no faith at all? Secondly, if God is all powerful, why doesn't he 'nod' toward the child being beaten by her drunk stepfather, or shield the righteous from all other calamities? If God places a higher priority on finding a job for a middle-aged man who wants to move back to Arkansas than intervening in the rape or killing of another of his flock, then I guess I don't get God. If the answer to that is that 'God works in mysterious ways,' then I'd certainly have to agree with that."
Howard raises valid, age-old theological questions with answers far beyond my limited understanding (and that of men and women of the cloth).
Why are some prayers for everything from miraculous healing to subtle guidance in this limited existence seemingly answered while other appeals from the faithful appear not to be? Perhaps it has something to do with far deeper aspects of consciousness about which we know nothing. Considering each seemingly real "us" is comprised of atoms that science says are 99.9 percent empty space, I find myself wondering just how much of our limited existence on this plane is as real and solid as we believe it to be. How much exists almost exclusively within our minds and hearts? If you removed every continually deteriorating physical part of me but my heart and brain, would I still even be alive?
I'd like to be able to offer a conclusive answer to Howard and other skeptical types. Yet all I can relate is what I've found to be true, just like those who've known similar inexplicable, even miraculous, experiences.
I call these strange occurrences "GodNods" because, well, I have no better phrase that seems to make sense to my limited understanding. Perhaps I should more aptly refer to them as "Guardian Angel Acknowledgements" for those fortunate enough to experience one.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].
Editorial on 08/20/2016