By Shawn Hawes
I put on my most engaging smile. “Hello, Officer. Is everything ok?” The officer, a young white man around my age, leans down in the window. He looks me in the eye and tells me, “I know who you are.” My heart skips a beat. Well, Lord, if this is your will then I ask that you strengthen me, I pray. My smile doesn’t slip. “Really, you know who I am? What exactly does that mean for me, Officer?” He sidles closer to the car, “License and registration, please, ma’am.” I’m confused. Why isn’t he sounding the alarm? I reach into the dash for the required papers and hand them over to him. He takes them and takes a quick look around. He then takes out his pad and scribbles on it. Am I getting a ticket? What is going on? He tears the paper off the pad and hands it and my paperwork back to me. As I reach to take it, he grabs my hand. “‘Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.’“ What? Did he just quote the bible to me? Psalms 5:8, if I’m not mistaken, a Psalm of protection. He backs away from the car and waves for me to drive on. I toss everything back into the dash and do as he says. As I am taxiing out into the traffic, I look back in my review mirror for a glimpse of the mysterious cop. He is no longer there. In his place is a gruff looking cop. Where’d the other cop go, the scripture quoting one? I forget about trying to find my place in traffic on the interstate. I turn around to look behind me. I don’t see anyone who fits his description. I turn back around. What just happened? My mind is racing as I finally merged into traffic. Did I just have an encounter with an angel? I mean, how else can I explain a man, a cop no less, vanishing in thin air?
I’ve been driving for five hours on 85 and I was tired. I had tried to connect with Vigalantee again with no luck. Maybe he has turned his phone off. Lord, I hoped so. I had prayed for him for most of the drive that he and his family were safe. Where am I? I had gone into the driver’s trance that usually comes when driving for long periods of time. I look for signs. Greensboro. I think I will stop here to sleep for the night. Then tomorrow I will start making my way to Missouri. I didn’t want to go immediately to Vigalantee just in case I wasn’t careful enough with my plans. I would hate to lead them straight to him and put a wrench into whatever resistance he may already have in play. So, I’m taking the roundabout route. It will take me a few days to get there this way but I have a few stops I need to make on the way anyway.
I get off on the exit and follow the signs to a Motel 6. I park in a dark corner of the parking lot where I will be able to see the entire area without being noticed. I pop the trunk before I get out. From the trunk I take a pillow, blanket and cooler and put them into the backseat of the car. I go back to the trunk and take out tissue. I look around, the parking lot is deserted. Everyone is inside their rooms for the night. I close the trunk and go further behind the car to do my business. I’d been holding that for some time. I didn’t want to stop to use the bathroom or even stay in a motel, even paying cash. People sometimes remember the most innocuous of details. I finish up, grab my toilet paper and get in the backseat of the car. I set up my pillow and blanket. I had thought about eating but I’m just too tired. I put the cooler in the front seat and set the alarm on the car. Spock had rigged something special up for me. The alarm worked like an early warning system, it would let me know if someone got too close to the car. And, that would give me enough time to get out there before they realized that I even knew they were there.
I settle in and before long I can barely keep my eyes open, my body begins to feel heavy…..I’m in a house. It has high, vaulted ceilings in the living area, making it seem even bigger than it actually was. The entire room was white; the walls, the carpet, and the furniture. There was absolutely no color excluding the brilliant gold from the rays of the sun pouring in through the windows. There were so many windows, I could see the particles dancing in the light. One of the windows was open and a slight breeze was making the white, chintz curtains slightly billow out with each gentle gust. (Breathe in, breathe out) I turn and notice there is a hallway behind me. As I walk down the hallway, I notice there are lots of doors on both sides. I try a door. It opens to my childhood room. I see myself reading The Bible Stories book my mom had gotten me so long ago. I still remember holding that golden book with its title written in crimson red in my hands. I would read that book from cover to cover many times over the years. I close the door and open another. In this room, I’m a little older, maybe two years more, and I had just woken up from a nightmare. I remember that dream. I was in a black void and an invisible box was closing around my head. With every new panel added, it was harder and harder to breathe. Finally, I began to call on Jesus. When I could no longer speak his name, I began to think it with everything within me until I finally awakened with Jesus’ name on my lips. I close the door. As I open and close more doors that showed different moments of my life, I began to understand that I was seeing my spiritual development. Even as a child I had a thirst for Christ. And even as a child I knew to call on Jesus when I was weak. Finally, I reached the end of the hallway, the last door. I open it. A blinding white light greets me. The light feels warm and comforting, yet I hesitate…something about this light doesn’t feel quite right…to be continued
I’ve been driving for five hours on 85 and I was tired. I had tried to connect with Vigalantee again with no luck. Maybe he has turned his phone off. Lord, I hoped so. I had prayed for him for most of the drive that he and his family were safe. Where am I? I had gone into the driver’s trance that usually comes when driving for long periods of time. I look for signs. Greensboro. I think I will stop here to sleep for the night. Then tomorrow I will start making my way to Missouri. I didn’t want to go immediately to Vigalantee just in case I wasn’t careful enough with my plans. I would hate to lead them straight to him and put a wrench into whatever resistance he may already have in play. So, I’m taking the roundabout route. It will take me a few days to get there this way but I have a few stops I need to make on the way anyway.
I get off on the exit and follow the signs to a Motel 6. I park in a dark corner of the parking lot where I will be able to see the entire area without being noticed. I pop the trunk before I get out. From the trunk I take a pillow, blanket and cooler and put them into the backseat of the car. I go back to the trunk and take out tissue. I look around, the parking lot is deserted. Everyone is inside their rooms for the night. I close the trunk and go further behind the car to do my business. I’d been holding that for some time. I didn’t want to stop to use the bathroom or even stay in a motel, even paying cash. People sometimes remember the most innocuous of details. I finish up, grab my toilet paper and get in the backseat of the car. I set up my pillow and blanket. I had thought about eating but I’m just too tired. I put the cooler in the front seat and set the alarm on the car. Spock had rigged something special up for me. The alarm worked like an early warning system, it would let me know if someone got too close to the car. And, that would give me enough time to get out there before they realized that I even knew they were there.
I settle in and before long I can barely keep my eyes open, my body begins to feel heavy…..I’m in a house. It has high, vaulted ceilings in the living area, making it seem even bigger than it actually was. The entire room was white; the walls, the carpet, and the furniture. There was absolutely no color excluding the brilliant gold from the rays of the sun pouring in through the windows. There were so many windows, I could see the particles dancing in the light. One of the windows was open and a slight breeze was making the white, chintz curtains slightly billow out with each gentle gust. (Breathe in, breathe out) I turn and notice there is a hallway behind me. As I walk down the hallway, I notice there are lots of doors on both sides. I try a door. It opens to my childhood room. I see myself reading The Bible Stories book my mom had gotten me so long ago. I still remember holding that golden book with its title written in crimson red in my hands. I would read that book from cover to cover many times over the years. I close the door and open another. In this room, I’m a little older, maybe two years more, and I had just woken up from a nightmare. I remember that dream. I was in a black void and an invisible box was closing around my head. With every new panel added, it was harder and harder to breathe. Finally, I began to call on Jesus. When I could no longer speak his name, I began to think it with everything within me until I finally awakened with Jesus’ name on my lips. I close the door. As I open and close more doors that showed different moments of my life, I began to understand that I was seeing my spiritual development. Even as a child I had a thirst for Christ. And even as a child I knew to call on Jesus when I was weak. Finally, I reached the end of the hallway, the last door. I open it. A blinding white light greets me. The light feels warm and comforting, yet I hesitate…something about this light doesn’t feel quite right…to be continued
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