the guiding hand

     

well my dear ones,

First off, let me just say

that I am the worst at social networking;

livejournal, facebook, whatever,

I stink at all of them;

birthdays I miss altogether;

messages go unanswered for weeks.

All I do is get on and post,

which leads me to today's topic...

In the natural,

barring the supernatural,

this page should be blank.

You should be seeing nothing right now.

I could have drowned at age 5,

but my Mom's friend saved me.

I could have died in a car accident

back when I was 17,

but I was able to swerve enough

that no one got seriously hurt.

Two brushes with death,

both easily explained away in the natural.

However, many years ago,

just a couple of years out of college,

my friend Mike and I went on

our cross-country motorcycle trip.

Our circuitous 25,000 mile path

covered 37 states in 4 months

with a nominal destination*

of Long Beach, California

to visit our friend, Randi

(one must always have

 some kind of goal, neh? =>).

On night, while still in

the greater Los Angeles area,

I was out riding by myself

and I got on it,

I got really crazy...

I was doing like 85 in a 35...

Yeah, yeah, young and dumb,

especially as I'm in an unfamiliar place!

The next thing I know,

I've run through a red light

I didn’t even see until too late;

I brake and swerve

and I'm on the wrong side of the road

still going way too fast...

Traffic? 

Yeah, plenty of it.

I remember thinking,

"this is it!"

I figured my life was over, for sure.

Everything wrong there is to do, I did.

Locking both brakes,

skidding, sliding,

cars honking, passing me on the wrong side.

I surely should have been killed,

yet I felt a push like a hand

that guided me through

and back to the other side.

When it was over,

I felt like I was incredibly lucky;

then I kind of pushed it down in my mind,

and never really thought much about it again

(which in itself is extraordinary!)

until this morning when I was

praying about what to write this week.

The thing God put on my heart was,

"whose hand guided you that day?"

Then the remembrance of that time

came back to me.

Los Angeles, The City of Angels...

surely an angel was sent

to help me that day!

And why?

For that I have an answer.

When I asked,

the One who spoke

and the universe leapt into existence

reminded me of the first time I had

read "The Stand" by Stephen King,

the part where Mother Abigail

recalls how God told her

there was work for her at a future time,

across the years,

hence her life was preserved till that time.

The word I have

is that I was guided through the traffic that day

that I might be here now

to write these words for you

and to speak a word of encouragement to you.

God knew you before you were formed in the womb;

you are special to God;

your life has meaning and purpose;

(and since you're still here,

 then your purpose has yet

 to be achieved =>)

and even on the days when you may not feel it,

you are loved by God.

Have a great week!

grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

“There is a God, and it's not you.
 Objective reality exists,

 and you don't control it.
 Truth exists, and it can be known.
 You are unique in all Creation;
 your life has meaning;
 and there is always hope.”

   --- The Ever Encouraging Word

"I have come that they may have life,

and that they may have it more abundantly."

                              --- Jesus