Something Completely Different

“Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—a stranger, not your own lips.” Proverbs 27:2

  Something very different happened last Wednesday. A man with a broken down motorcycle was attempting to boost start the engine at the end of my driveway. It didn’t work. He was amazed when I told him he could leave it in my driveway; to just pull it off to the side and away from the road so it would be safe and out of the way.

  After the car driver left, the stranded motorcyclist shared he was staying in a hostel about an hour from here. He also had no one to call to come pick him up so he planned on hitchhiking back.

  It was a hot evening. It was a long way on foot being at least an hour’s drive away.  My heart was more than happy to drive him there myself but I felt rather nervous of being alone with him in the car. Distrusting trust? Is there such a thing? He seemed like a nice enough fellow and small enough to not be physically threatening but nevertheless…so I approached my neighbour to see if she would be willing to go for a drive.

  The end result was a lovely tour along roads I’d never traveled, on a beautiful summer evening as the sun set in gold and crimson glory. That was a real treat. I don’t see the sun set very often because my home is in a valley and is surrounded by large trees.

  It was also nice to have company on the way home with a neighbour I’ve had some minor conflict with in the past. It gave us a chance to chat. Hopefully our re-connection and the laugh shared when I got lost coming home will have resolved any residual bad feelings.

  My unexpected passenger told me the driver who had pulled up to give him a boost had seen him pushing the dead motorcycle along the road. He had gone home to get booster cables then came back to try and get the bike started.

  I guess I am sharing this because it is nice to hear of people doing good for someone else: the car driver with booster cables and my neighbour who was decidedly nervous being in the car with a strange man yet set aside her fear to help get him home.

  This isn’t the first time someone in need of aid has landed on my doorstep. It happened frequently over the years on the farm mostly because a nearby curve in the gravel road caused many a driver to end up in the ditch. One autumn there was a woman who was simply standing at the side of the road for an hour. I approached her, finding her incoherent and, I found out later, had been walking for hours before we got involved. That time we called the police. Had we not gotten involved, she probably would have died from exposure during the night. Her light clothing would have been insufficient for the weather.

  In sharing this, it is not to toot my own horn because I am deeply honoured that God brings people in need to my doorstep. I am thankful for having the ability to help in some small way. I am thankful I live in a community where strangers are still willing to help strangers. 

AMEN!