Dear Reader,
It's my pleasure to share another Honorable Mention column from this year's Write a DearReader Contest. Today's piece was written by Laura Heyer. Thank you for your entry, Laura…
My Visit from Heaven
It was my last semester of my second year of seminary (graduate school) and I had signed up for a semester-long practicum, “Pastoral Care in Ministry in the Hospital Setting”. My assignment was to work a 40-hour week on the Closed Adolescent Male Ward (which meant that these were severely disturbed adolescents) of Southeast Louisiana State Hospital in Mandeville, La. I settled well into my new position there and actually found it to be quite gratifying as I developed supportive relationships with several of the young men there.
After a couple of months, it had become routine to make the necessary drive between the seminary in New Orleans and Mandeville, Louisiana, which included the once-very-daunting-to-me round-trip drive across the almost 24-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. On this particular overcast and foggy Spring afternoon as I was just about half-way across the bridge, suddenly a horde of moths descended upon my windshield, completely obscuring the view ahead. In my panic at being unable to see in front of me, I made the unwise decision to use my windshield wipers, turning the mass of quivering moths into smashed ones, now smeared across the windshield, making my obstructed view even denser. There was no shoulder on the bridge, so I was forced to stop where I was, while in my mind, I replayed my father’s caution that if my car were ever to become disabled on the road I should stay in it and wait for help to arrive. Fearing that I couldn’t be seen until the vehicles behind me were right upon me, I put my blinkers on, bowed my head and prayed this simple prayer, “Lord, help me!”
No sooner had I prayed than a small car with a single occupant pulled up behind me and stopped. A bearded, middle-aged man got out, came up to my driver’s side window and asked if I could use some help. When he saw the condition of the windshield, thick with moths, he told me he had just the thing. He came back with a roll of paper towels and quickly removed all the moths and then cleaned up my windshield. He then said, “If you’d like, I can follow you to make sure you make it safely the rest of the way.” I thought that was a wonderful idea and very generous of him! When I asked how I could thank him as I reached into my purse to find some cash to offer him for his trouble, he kindly told me that no thanks were necessary; he was happy to help.
As soon as I crossed over into Mandeville, I pulled off the road, stopped, and looked behind me, wanting to thank the man properly. But, strangely enough, the car that had followed me to the other side of the causeway was no longer there. It seemed that both it and the “man” who was in it had disappeared into thin air!
– Laura Heyer, Honorable Mention, 2022 Write a DearReader Contest
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
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