Photo:  Railroad tracks near Bummer’s Flats

I had tea with a friend this morning who told me this story. She and her husband were sitting on their lawn chairs enjoying the beauty of a warm evening last week when her husband had an urge to pray for the safety of the visitors coming to the area in the next few days. So he did. She asked him why he did that; he’s never prayed for tourists before. (Locals are more likely to complain about being stuck behind stubble-jumpers hauling enormous trailers on our winding mountain roads. The poor folk seem to be afraid of any drop-off deeper than their gum boots.) He shrugged and said he didn’t know. He just felt he should. Then they went on enjoying the beautiful quiet together.

The next day their friend, who is a train engineer, was bringing a train through the valley. A young man from Alberta had apparently become so drunk he sat down on the train tracks, then fell asleep right there. The engineer immediately tried to stop the train when he saw him and realized it was a person, but of course could not do it in time. When it did finally stop he and another rail road employee reluctantly climbed down from the engine to go look for body parts. What they found absolutely astonished them. The man was alive and still sleeping. 26 loaded cars had passed over him. When they called to him he woke up! 26 freight cars with screeching brakes passed over him and didn’t wake him up -which is just as well. If they had and he had moved his head or a limb even slightly they would have been chopped off, but he was totally unharmed.

Wow. Wow. Wow. God is good. Pray for this guy. I do believe God preserved him for a reason. Apparently he survived another accident in the same place last year.

We also praise God for the conductor who is due to retire in a few weeks and has never had an accident. God preserved him and his assistant as well.

And pay attention to those urges to pray.