This did not happen this week, but it is not ancient history either.

I was at an event with a significant number of people. Not huge, but probably more than one hundred. Many came as families. I sort of knew some of the people there but far from everyone. I won't go into details beyond that.

At one point the group moved from location A to location B, where everyone formed a line to watch an event.

Among this group was a little girl about four years old. Gorgeous.

So I had been near the beginning of the migration, and was standing there with others, when the main herd arrived and fanned out to stand in a line, when I looked back to see how the movement was going.

And this little girl ... well, she was little. Short legs. She had stayed with the group but hadn't quite managed to stay with what I presumed was her family. As all the tall people around her quickly moved into the line I could see her pausing, then realizing that she was unable to see whoever she came with. She slowly rose up onto her toes to see farther, but she was still about three and a half feet short of being able to see over the mass of people in front of her. As the realization that she had lost her family came over her I could see her bottom lip begin to quiver as she was about to cry.

So I spoke in her direction, saying "Are you looking for someone? Give us just a minute and I'm sure we can find them for you." I was at least twelve feet away, but I know that in our dysfunctional culture a man should not be approaching a girl unnecessarily. It seemed she heard, as she looked relieved and her lip stopped quivering. I turned around to ask some of the people around me if they knew who she was with but one of the women apparently had heard me and went directly to the girl and led her to a woman who was standing near the other end of the line.

A successful conclusion to a very minor catastrophe, but it brought back memories of when I had been a very little boy and adults had done a similar service to me, just letting me know that my problem had been noted and would be dealt with. It brought to mind the idea that we are all part of a much greater whole that, when it is not malfunctioning, looks out for each other.