Sunday, April 24, 2011

Things that make you pause

Last night Mandy was at work, but Tim, Samantha and I were were coming home from a family dinner around 7:45pm. Just leaving the city passed the Flying J we see a man walking along the side of the road. Alone. That in itself is not that unusual. Lots of hitchhikers on the #1, especially now that it is a bit warmer. The thing about this man - he was carrying/dragging a cross. It was not small, taller than him, the horizontal arms seeming to reach out past his own wingspan.

Samantha and I stared at each other not sure of what we had just seen. We looked back as he faded from sight. Both of us were struck by the feeling that we needed to go back. Talk to him. Find out what he was all about. Samantha wondered if we was pulling some kind of scam. I didn't think so. There was nobody around him, no "support" vehicle, no news cameras. Just a man carrying his cross on Easter weekend. Samantha did not know how to feel about this. Tim wasn't quite as struck by the sight of this man so we kept going. Its the last thing I thought of before sleep took me last night, the first thing on my mind this morning. I am perplexed.

Where was he coming from? Where was he going? How long had he been carrying this cross? Did he need help with his burden?

I am mindful of the fact that significant moments happen in our life without warning. I believe last night we barely scratched the surface of a highly significant moment.