Rescue Me

On Wednesday our family was driving to our church for Bible Study when something happened that would result in this blog. It was a slightly warm day so Bill’s window was rolled down since our air conditioning doesn’t work that well. I could smell the musky breeze from the river mingled with the vehicle fumes of other drivers and Bill and I were engaged in a deep discussion about politics or sandwich meat or something like that. As we talked I was gazing out his window watching the scene roll past us when a lone pedestrian caught my eye. She was probably in her mid-twenties and was wearing a nice red jacket, jeans, and glasses. Her head was down but I could tell she was talking on her cell phone and wasn’t really paying attention to anything around her. This fact became painfully apparent when she connected with a street sign. I knew she’d connected, not just by her startled gestures but because her glasses made a rather loud clang against the metal post that could be heard above our van’s humming engine. I cringed because I saw it happen and I couldn’t do anything about it.

I remembered a similar thing occuring at the University where I was studying for my education degree. *I don’t HAVE an education degree but I digress* Anyway, I was walking quickly to my class which I was already late for when I saw a faculty member walk out of the bathroom and head down the hallway. She had a length of toilet paper trailing behind her – from her waistband – and I was too far away to discreetly address the problem without causing any embarrassment.

During my years as a pianist for a music ministry group we had little money for coordinating ensembles. One of the vocalists bought several yards of cheap fabric and sewed outfits for the four women in the group. Mine was a short sleeved blouse with a creamy background and autumn tones and an orange skirt. I had learned by that time that I shouldn’t care if I looked like a frosted pumpkin because it didn’t matter what we wore as long as we were doing what God had called us to do. However, I hadn’t accounted for the length of the skirt while I was seated at the electric piano and after one of the services the pastor walked up to our drummer and informed him that my skirt allowed an ample view north of my knees. I was mortified and the situation was quickly amended with a thick covering for the front of the piano before the next service.

Yesterday, Bill traveled by boat to the San Juan Islands for a men’s retreat. Unbeknownst to both of us he gets motion-sick on boats and this was his first discovery of this fact. He spent the majority of the travel time laying down in one of the cabins trying to settle his stomach. While I was on the phone with him I wished so much that I could have been there to offer him water, crackers, Dramamine, or my company, but he was out of my reach.

Sometimes things happen to other people that we just can’t prevent or warn them about, even though we have every desire to. It can be anything from a minor embarrassment to a major blunder but sometimes we are just not near enough to help. So, what are we to do? Perhaps just to be available to pull someone back to their feet so they can start all over again.

And blog about it later.

Glory