“A joyful heart is good medicine." ~ Proverbs
17:22
Kyle, a college student, was on
the side of the road hitchhiking home one Halloween night. What began as a cold drizzle grew quickly into
an angry storm. Thick, gloomy clouds
made him feel at least ten degrees colder.
Lightning broke the darkness revealing the desolation of the
lonely road he’d chosen. Then blackness again; the only thing visible seemed to be the twinkling raindrops stinging his
face like tiny shooting darts.
Car headlights occasionally lit up the murky blackness of this
October night as the few travelers made their way home. Drivers repeatedly passed without stopping - most
with looks of disgust on their faces. Hitchhiking
at night was rarely a good idea – picking someone up was even crazier. But Kyle had honed his skills through
practice and desperation.
He always looked them in the eye and held his gaze as they
passed. Not in a crazy axe-murderer way,
but in a friendly and personable way. He
only had a second or two to make a good impression. He dressed in clean, upscale clothing; nobody
wants to pick up a lazy, stinky-looking hobo. He kept smiling; pretending the next car was
a friend planning to pick him up.
The storm’s rage was peaking; Kyle could see only a few feet
behind him. But his persistence paid
off. After an hour of flashing his nearly-frozen
thumb in the direction of approaching cars, a rusty, old clunker rolled to a
stop beside him.
Desperate for shelter and without thinking, Kyle jumped in
and closed the door. To his amazement, no one occupied the driver’s seat; the engine was silent. The car moved forward slowly. Panic shot through him like an F-15 breaking
the sound barrier. Was he hallucinating?
Up ahead, the road sliced downward into a tight, nasty
turn. Terrified, Kyle prayed for his
life. Just before the car hit the curve,
a bony hand with calloused fingers appeared through the window and steered the
car safely through the winding danger. The
‘phantom’ hand then disappeared into the eerie darkness.
As the car gained speed down the winding road, Kyle gripped the
wheel tightly. He guided the old wreck safely
into the parking lot of a nearby pub where he stopped and ran from the ‘haunted’
junker as if it were about to explode.
Chilled to the bone, Kyle rushed inside telling everyone
about his terrifying experience. Bar patrons
passed him off as nothing more than a Halloween prankster trying to con free
drinks from his preposterous tale.
Suddenly, two other men walked in from the ghostly storm. They too were soaked and winded. “Look, Elmer!” one exclaimed. “There’s that idiot that got in our car while
we were pushing it!”
Father, the life can at times, be so
challenging; draining us of happiness if we’re not careful. Thank You for our friends and family who bring
laughter to our lives. Please bring belly-busting
laughter to my friends today. Amen
