Dying Men

The other day I was walking in an old mall that people regularly stroll for exercise. On about my third trip around it, an older gentleman in front of me stopped, gave a jerk and keeled over! He was paler than pale, gasping for breath and blood was trickling from his nose.
So I asked him: "When I'm done here, would you mind giving me a ride home?"
No. That didn't really happen.
Ridiculous.
But I was thinking, wouldn't that be about the same as when the thief who was crucified next to Jesus asked Jesus to take him to heaven with him?
From a natural view, doesn't it seem about the same? And doesn't asking a dying man for help, any kind of help, seem pretty ridiculous?
I was thinking what remarkable faith the guy had to ask a dying man for help. I was thinking about what he might have seen to give him such hope that this dying man might help him.
I suppose you have to be willing to look beyond the apparent--look beyond events of the day, the headlines, personalities, trendy causes, the circumstances. Even--like the thief--your own terrible circumstances and valid guilt.
And of course you have to ask the right dying man.