It was just two days ago, when I was on my way to one of my nursing home counseling sessions, that I got very rudely cut off in traffic by a young lady talking on her cell phone and paying no attention to how she was driving. I started to feel a surge of anger build up inside me, or, as I prefer to call it, a buildup of negative energy, or “trash”. But I decided that it was no big deal, so I took out the trash.

I came to the next corner, and this same young lady was in the right-hand turning lane. When the light turned red, she promptly went straight and cut me off again. I slammed on my brakes, and the guy behind me almost hit me in the rear end. Besides that my car stalled, and so did his. His battery was low and wouldn’t start the car without a jump, so I started my car and went back to give him a jump. Needless to say, right at this moment I was asking my Creator what lesson I was to learn from this young lady being so rude to me, not to mention a terrible driver.

I drove about two more miles down the interstate and there, sitting on the shoulder of the highway, was the young lady in her car, which was overheating. For a split second I wanted to say, “That serves you right”, but I felt my spiritual soul overpower my human feelings with divine compassion and love, so I pulled over behind her car.

The young lady walked up to me and said, “Thank you so much for pulling over, as I don’t know what to do.”

I could see she was sobbing over something, so I asked her what the problem was other than the car breaking down. The car she was driving was a rental car and she had just come from the airport, where she had arrived from Texas to be with her father who was getting ready to make his transition to the Other Side. He was a resident in a nursing home and was not expected to make it through the day.

I looked at her and said, “By the way, what nursing home are you going to?”

She told me, and wouldn’t you know it was the same nursing home that I was going to. I told her to call the rental company and that I would drive her to the nursing home.

She got into my car and said, “I think you should know that I don’t normally accept rides from strangers.”

That’s when I looked at her and said, “But I’m not a stranger, as I was sent here to help you.”

She replied, “You know something? I do feel really safe with you.”

We got to the nursing home, and her father was still on the Earthly side. She was extremely comforted by being with him, because she was the only child.

I had my counseling session (about ninety minutes) with some of the residents, and then I went outside to make sure that the car rental company had brought her another car. They had. I walked back to her father’s room, and the young lady asked if she could talk with me for a while, since she had no family. The nurses at the nursing home had told the young lady that I was a hospice counselor, and she wanted to know if she could stay in touch with me. I told her, “That’s why I’m here”, and gave her my phone number.

She then said to me, “You know something else? On my way here I was driving really fast and crazy, because I wanted to be with my father before he passed away. I normally don’t drive like that, and I know that I cut some people off; do you think they will forgive me?”

I just looked at her and said, “Trust me, you have been forgiven, and under the circumstances they would totally understand why you where driving the way you were.”

She gave me a big hug and said, “How can I ever repay you for what you have done for me today?”

I replied by saying, “Just seeing you with your father is the only reward that I shall need.”

A lesson in forgiveness, one that should be learned by all.

Reaching For Joy,

Ken