It was a month ago. Hard to believe how fast time flies. Just one month ago I was stuck on the side of the road, one mile from my exit, with a flat tire. Yes, I had a spare — one of those donuts — mind you, the only type of donut unconsumed in my car. However, I had thrown out my shoulder two weeks previous and it was not healed. There was no way I could loosen the lug nuts. So I called my stepson Tyler.
Tyler, among many of his gifts and talents, is an exceptional wrecker driver. He pulls out jack-knifed semi-trackers, cleans up pile-ups and answers calls at all hours. He is a go-to-guy. He came, he hooked, he towed!
Yesterday I sent Ty a text, just to thank him again for the roadside rescue — and to remind him that if ever the circumstances were reversed, I would be there for him. Our faith life and its journey will find us in many different lanes and roads. Some will be the left lane—faster smoother and with no slow drivers in our way. Most times it’s the center lane—steady, speeding up, braking, looking in the rear view, avoiding obstacles ahead, trying to figure out directions and wondering if this is the correct exit!
Then there are those days—hopefully few—when your lane isn’t a lane at all. It is a berm, a small patch of asphalt and gravel where you are stuck and flat. We’ve all been haven’t we? But here is the important question: Who rescued you? Who came and hooked you up to themself and got you from point A so you could eventually get to your point B? Who was your Tyler? Because who ever that was — a friend, spouse, pastor, coworker, stranger, child, parent—they were part of the Sacramental Grace of God that makes visibly present Christ on this Journey.
Who has been Christ for you? For whom are you Christ?