The Pastor’s Piece – July 9, 2023

The Pastor’s Piece

FCFI

July 9, 2023

A few weeks ago, after dinner one summer Sunday night, my wife and I decided to take advantage of the lingering daylight and go for a little drive. Our little drive ended up being more than little and we found ourselves in Galena, IL. We drove the backroads getting there and once in town, we checked out the downtown area and then began exploring the neighborhoods up in the hilly parts of town. They were amazing. That town has some serious history about it.

Afterward, we decided to take a different route home so we headed east on another unfamiliar backroad. It was still about an hour before sunset. A little rain had fallen earlier so everything was fresh and alive after being dry for so many weeks. As we traveled, we took in the countryside and farmsteads along the way. The rolling hills and beautiful houses and barns made it quite enjoyable. 

We had not traveled very far when we passed a driveway and my wife let out a gasp and said, “Stop the car! There’s somebody laying in the road back there under their car.” I had seen something out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t see that. I really had no intention of stopping and turning back, but she insisted we turn around, so we did. Sure enough, part way up a beautiful winding, tree-lined driveway was a vehicle with its driver’s door open, engine running, and a person lying unconscious half under the car, half out in the open. There was no doubt she had face-planted into the gravel when she fell out. Somehow she had managed to put the vehicle in park beforehand. We tried to call 911 but there was no cell signal in that remote area so we shouted to her, just in case she could hear us, that we were going for help and would be right back. A few hundred feet later at the top of the hill our call went through. Help was on the way! We rushed back to the site, not sure what to expect. Several thoughts went through my mind, mainly because it seemed so mysterious, I thought there may be foul play involved. 

Once back at the scene, as I approached the unconscious person, I saw her head move ever so slightly. As I moved toward her I noticed a very large dog sitting in the front seat. The driver’s door was open and could not be closed without moving the unconscious person. I was sure I didn’t want to tangle with a large dog that was hovering over her stricken owner. But as I approached, she just sat there and watched. Then she jumped out and started licking her owner on the face. She was one of those dogs that would not hurt you by biting, but she might lick you to death. By now the person on the ground was trying to pick her head up and talk but couldn’t get the words out and was shaking badly. I asked if she was diabetic. She managed to shake her head. Then I asked if she was asthmatic? To which she managed to reply in the affirmative. I asked if she had an inhaler. She nodded her head up and down in the gravel. I asked where? She tried to point back toward the house.

Just then a Sheriff’s deputy arrived. I briefed him on the situation and together with the EMT personnel, they loaded her up in the back seat of his car and sped up the hill to her house. Then the ambulance arrived and I sent them up the hill too. A few other small details happened, and my wife and I hung around the end of the driveway – not sure why we hung around because our work was done.

There were a couple of bystanders standing around, neighbors, I guess. We chatted about this and that, then drove up the hill to find our friend sitting in a chair on the patio surrounded by EMTs. Apparently, her inhaler had kicked in and she was no longer in danger. And that’s how the story ends. We will go back and visit her sometime soon.

Sometimes one wonders about time and place and coincidences. We often hear the statement about “being in the right place at the right time.” I wonder if we had not “randomly” driven past that driveway that night and found her unconscious lying face down in the gravel, if anyone else would have? It was a remote road on a curve and a hill, and it was almost dark. If my wife hadn’t been looking around, I never would have noticed anything out of the ordinary – it took both eyes on the road to navigate the unexpected twists and the turns. And, the whole drive in the country was not planned, the trip was spontaneous and the destination was unknown when we left and why did we wander more than 30 miles from home on a Sunday drive? I do not believe there are coincidences in life. But I do believe in the sovereignty of God. Someone by the name of Emma Bull said that “coincidence is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and the pulleys.”

Seems like it’s always something. 

(Kevin Cernek is Lead Pastor of Martintown Community Church in Martintown, Wisconsin).