Driving home one night last week, I saw a woman heading towards the bus stop at Watt and El Camino. The bus pulled away, not seeing the woman dashing to meet it. I quickly turned into the parking lot and pulled up to the bus stop, where the woman was standing, looking upset. I rolled down my window and shouted out to her, asking if she would like a ride.
Why would I do this with a stranger, at night, in a deserted parking lot? What had come over me? Did I have a death wish?
No, I don’t have a desire to leave this mortal coil just yet, but what came over me was the Holy Spirit, speaking to me and saying, “help this woman, you would expect no less yourself”. There was danger for her, there was the chance she might not see another bus for quite a while, there was a certainty that she was upset and anxious and maybe I could help. I kept hearing the Lord’s command, Love your neighbor as yourself.
She was genuinely surprised when I asked her if she wanted a ride. I asked her where she was headed and she said she was on her way to work out in the Sunrise area. I told her I would try to catch up to the bus, and if that didn’t work, I would be glad to take her to her work. As she climbed in the car, she kept saying, “Thank you! This is so wonderful! Are you sure?
We raced down El Camino to catch up with the bus, getting close behind as it neared the upcoming bus stop, and….. It drove right on by! She and I let out a cry, and she said “Oh, dear, it’s not going to stop if there aren’t any passengers! This late at night, it was possible that many more stops would be missed. I told her not to worry, we’d get her to work. Luckily as we trailed behind the bus, I saw that it was going to be stopped at the red light at the intersection ahead, so I pulled over next to the bus, and gestured wildly and honking to get the driver’s attention. Eventually, the driver opened her window, I opened mine and shouted “I have a passenger for you!” The driver nodded and told me to pull into the next upcoming bus stop, where my passenger jumped out of the car, saying “God Bless you! Thank you.”
As I pulled away, the words “God Bless you” kept echoing, and I thought, “Yes, he has.” More importantly, he had spoken through me to this woman, and I know that she took that experience with her to her work and passed that blessing on to someone at her job, and just like a pebble dropping into the water, rippling circles expanding into the surrounding water, God’s love rippled and expanded to others. The Holy Spirit was driving with me that night, and stepped on that bus with my newly found friend, for a ride to spread the Gospel, one neighbor at a time.
