It’s easy to get jaded about the perceived state of neighborliness, isn’t it?
Both the news media and social media has us believing that our divisions are so deep that no one would go out of their way to help the other just out of pure kindness.
But I find it increasingly true, that if I disregard what is believed to be true, that most folks are all too gracious to help a stranger out of a tough spot.
Some might call that "Pollyannaish." … I just call it believing in the Holy Spirit.
One morning this week, I received a phone call from our son who’s in college about 3 ½ hours away from us. His car had died and wasn’t going anywhere.
What to do? It’s not like we’re familiar with car mechanics in an urban city in which we’ve never lived a couple of hundred miles away.
I knew my best course of action was to contact a dear friend who’s lived there for the past 25 years. “Hey, Nater, you know any mechanics in Minneapolis located by the university?”
Now, Nate doesn’t live in that section of the city, but here’s the thing. Of anyone I know living in the Twin Cities, I knew he would know someone to ask. … And I was spot on.
Within 20 minutes, Nate was back to me with a mechanic recommendation from his friend, who actually did know the area of the city where our son is living. In fact, the news was so good that Nate’s friend swore by the mechanic, which he’d used for years. To top things off, Nate’s friend was willing to allow me to name drop him so the shop knew we were coming by recommendation!
A quick call to Northwestern Tire Co. in Minneapolis, and Mike there said they’d gladly take a look at the car. Shouldn’t be but a day wait at most. … Oh, and a tow too? Yeah, here’s the recommendation: Hide and Seek Towing. “They’re our go-to,” Mike said.
Another call to the towing company, and boom, everything fell into place. Within a couple of hours, our son’s car was delivered to the the shop, and by the close of the day, the shop had diagnosed the issue, obtained the part they needed to fix the problem, and to boot they determined what was going on with the messed up driver’s door window that didn’t go up and down anymore.
Given the go-ahead, they could have the car in tip top shape within a day, two at most.
So … all within the span of eight hours, we went from having a broken down car in a city 3 ½ hours away without the slightest hint of who to take it to … to the repairs are in progress and our son should have his car within no later than a day or two.
Full admission: The morning phone call initially raised my anxiety. Not an issue I wanted to deal with considering the busy day ahead. And well, you know all of those bad experiences stories people tell about unfamiliar mechanics, the pessimistic little voice in the back of my head reminded me.
But the proof of the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand was there throughout the experience. And watching all the dots connect in real time reminded me that given the opportunity there is a majority of folks out there looking out to help their neighbor. We just need to give them a chance!
Faith Family, the world really truly is one small community which is intricately woven together through the web of the Holy Spirit. We simply are better off together, as Jesus reminds us throughout the gospels.
Given the opportunity today, I hope that you too will use your time, talents and treasure to further the mission of Christ. After all, we’re all just one phone call away from a situation in which we don’t have the answers. … But a friend of a friend does! Amen!
What a great story. And that Nater guy sounds awesome!