UPSETTING ENCOUNTER ON ROUTE 27

"And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live." (Ezekiel 16:6)

One of my favorite films is "The Apostle" starring Robert Duvall. I think it was released in 1997. It's about a very dynamic evangelical preacher who commits murder, flees to another state, successfully starts a church- encouraging and inspiring a group of mostly poor and minority folks in a small community; and who ultimately is arrested and imprisoned. My fellow "born-again Christians" typically are very divided in their thoughts about this film- half absolutely loving it, and half absolutely hating it. I love the film. In an early scene of the movie, the Rev. "Sonny" Dewey (played by Duvall) and his mother (played by June Carter Cash) are traveling outside Ft. Worth, Texas in an impressive Lincoln when they come upon the scene of a bad automobile accident which has happened probably no more than five or ten minutes earlier. One car is off the road. Inside is a young man and his wife- both are badly injured; the wife appears to be dead or very close to death. Dewey pulls over, grabs his leather bound Bible, walks down an embankment to the car, and quotes the above Bible verse from Ezekiel. In what may be the most moving scene of the entire film, Dewey gives a very short "pep talk" to the couple, urging them to "accept Jesus Christ as Personal Savior" and become "champions" for the Lord. A police officer tries to stop Dewey from doing this, but he persists. Upon getting back into the Lincoln, Dewey and his mom begin driving away, praying for the couple. Instantly and unexpectedly, we're again shown the interior of the injured couple in the damaged car; the woman who appeared to be dead is moving. The viewer is left to believe that the preacher's bold declaration of Ezekiel 16:6 and exhortation was honored by God who brought life back into the young lady! I have heard actor Robert Duvall speak about this. He said he knew of a devout Christian woman who literally used to proclaim that verse from Ezekiel to victims of catastrophic accidents and pray over them. He based that scene on her actual actions. I was so moved by Duvall's words that I memorized Ezekiel 16:6 determined to do the same thing in the event of encountering such a horrific accident situation.

Yesterday, in the late afternoon, I was driving along a rather rural section of Route 27 in Medfield, Massachusetts about a mile from the Walpole town line. Suddenly, I noticed cars stopping in front of me, and several cars pulled to the side of the road on each side of the roadway. Then, I noticed something on the highway itself. Actually, there were two "somethings". There was a damaged bicycle in the middle of the road, and to the left of it, there was a man- probably in his forties, laying in the roadway. To my surprise, there were no emergency vehicles or personnel present. This couldn't have happened any more than five minutes earlier. I immediately thought of Ezekiel 16:6. I rolled down my window. My daughter is a nurse, so when she encounters accidents like this, she stops and renders aid. I'm proud to say that she has truly been a hero in her actions at several bad highway accidents. I was instantly debating whether to stop or not. I reasoned that when Amy stops and gets out, she does so as a nurse who knows exactly what to do. In my case, I have no idea what to do medically for an injured person! Yet, I thought of Robert Duvall in the film. I realized I could pull over, walk over, quote that verse, and pray for the victim with God's love and authority. Then, like Duvall in the movie, I could drive off and pray in the car. As I drove directly by the man, I saw that his head was injured and there was blood. It was not a pleasant scene. I heard one woman telling someone she had called 911 for help. I came within the proverbial sixteenth of an inch of stopping. Part of me really wanted to pull a Robert Duvall here. Part of me wondered if I'd just get in the way and cause a problem- if I really wanted to help this guy or if I was on a ego trip. I was already "praying in tongues" softly. I was slowing up, and about to stop. Next thing I knew, I didn't. I kept going. I did quote Ezekiel 16:6 aloud in the car and I did pray fervently for the victim. I fully expected to see emergency vehicles coming, but to my surprise, that did not happen. I suddenly realized that I was almost into Walpole and that the ambulance and police cars would be coming from the opposite direction.

I do not what the outcome of yesterday's accident was. I did an on-line search and could not find anything about it. Ironically, today in Bill Shattuck's Adult Sunday School class at Bread of Life Church, a guy in class pointed out that we tend to be much too shy and reserved about just praying out loud in public and that we really should not care what people think about it. I know there's a balance to this stuff. There is that whole thing about "don't cast your pearls before swine" that comes from the Synoptic gospels. We have to use wisdom. But the guy's comment really made me think. Did I do the wrong thing yesterday? Should, I have stopped, quoted the Scripture, and prayed a short prayer aloud? In retrospect, I absolutely think I should have. This is kind of scary to put out there in public because I know God will hold me to it, but the next time I encounter a situation like that, I will get out of the car and do what I should have done on Saturday!