A GAMBLE FROM MR. GENGEL

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” (Luke 15:4-5)

The Haiti earthquake story will have literally hundreds of thousands of heartbreaking stories of human tragedy and suffering. One of those has affected a central Massachusetts family. Britney Gengel of Rutland, Massachusetts (a small town west of Worcester) was on a humanitarian mission to Haiti with a group of students and faculty from Lynn University of Boca Raton, Florida where she’s a student. Initially, the Gengel family received a report that Britney had been located and was O.K. Shortly thereafter, the family was notified that Britney in fact had NOT been found- that she was still missing and unaccounted for.

I can SO relate to that story. My own daughter Amy, age 24, a Springfield, Missouri nurse has been on two medical missionary trips to Haiti. Amy’s most recent trip to Haiti was in May of last year, and she’s scheduled to go again in May of this year. If Amy were missing in Haiti in the aftermath of an earthquake, I’d certainly be devastated. Had I been told she was O.K. and THEN told that information was incorrect, I’d probably be frustrated and angry.

Perhaps you have seen Britney’s Dad, Mr. Gengel making tearful and almost hysterical pleas on television for his daughter to be found. Mr. Gengel has pled with President Obama “as a father” to “DO something and find Britney”. This morning, a group from Lynn University was on the Today show with Meredith Vieira. The group included other parents of missing students who had also gone through the same ordeal as Mr. Gengel. The other parents, obviously distraught, spoke calmly and rationally to Meredith. Mr. Gengel, however, pleaded,
“Meredith! We’re from WORCESTER! You started your career at WORC! HELP us find Britney!”

In fact Meredith Vieira IS a native New Englander. She’s from Rhode Island and she did start her media career in central Massachusetts. So Mr. Gengel was playing the “You’re a fellow New Englander! You have to do something special for us!” card. He then broke into such bad sobbing that I thought they should perhaps cut to commercial.

PLEASE DON’T MISUNDERSTAND.

Like SO many, I feel terrible about Britney and SO many Americans missing in Haiti. And, I certainly feel bad for the Haitians, too! I am no fan of President Obama. On numerous issues I have criticized him and disagreed with him. But on this one, I support the President. He’s been attacked by Rush Limbaugh for doing too much and is being attacked by others for not doing enough. It’s a no-win situation for him. But in this crisis, I believe Obama is being a good leader and doing the best he can.

I relate to Mr. Gengel. More than he could probably ever know. You see, I’m by nature a VERY emotional, very sensational, and very excitable person. That personality and behavior CAN at times be very good and also CAN at times be very bad. If it were Amy missing, I’D probably be tempted to be hysterically yelling all over the airwaves, “BRING AMY HOME!!” I would hope that at that time, my family and friends would talk some sense to me, and I frankly hope if something like that ever happens, someone close to me could be the spokesperson for the media to save me a lot of embarrassment. You see, the Mr. Gengels and Bob Barils of the world are FABULOUS at publicity. We really are. If I really wanted to get a message to a million people over a month, I honestly think through the internet and other means I COULD do it. But in the process, you can become like Cindy Sheehan who is another sensational person. She was the one protesting President Bush and the War in Iraq. She became a celebrity, but also became thought of as a nut. I will admit....I have that capability. That’s why sometimes I need somebody to keep me in check, even if initially that makes me furious. Right now, that’s what Mr. Gengel needs.

I once wrote a piece on this blog praising John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. He really IS a hero of mine. You know it all began with the abduction and murder of his little boy Adam over 25 years ago. At the time of the abduction, John Walsh was like Mr. Gengel and Bob Baril. He was wall-to-wall all over the media. All of his closest friends were working for the “find Adam” cause, 24/7. Finally after 5 or 6 days, and 24/7...his close friends were all exhausted. They had jobs. They had commitments. They had their own lives. They told John Walsh they had to take a little break.

He did NOT understand. “How DARE you?!” he angrily retorted.

But they were right. That’s a tough fact of life. Nobody is going to go 24/7 on a cause like that for more than 5 or 6 days unless it’s their own child or grandchild that’s missing. There’s a fatigue factor and people need a break.

John Walsh went through a lot of self-pity, which is more than understandable. But then he decided to “make a difference”. He has advocated for and helped SO many victims of crime and has seen to it that more than 1100 escaped criminals have been caught.

We all need to hope and pray that Britney Gengel will be found alive and will soon be home with her family. IF that is not the case- we will all need to pray for and support the Gengels. Mr. Gengel, like me, John Walsh, and others has that SENSATIONAL and EMOTIONAL and even slightly irrational personality and behavior. It COULD destroy him. Or he COULD use that to advocate for the causes his daughter believed in and he could be the greatest advocate for and help to the Haitian people of any American to date.

Let’s pray for Britney and the family, and if Mr. Gengel ever wants to share coffee and have a shoulder to cry on, I’ll be there.