NIGHT GUIDE
We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten
us and direct us; and God has provided for this, by appointing
his angels to be our teachers and guides.
SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
William and Virginia Jackson, native New Englanders, have
lived in Florida for several years. Virginia often asks her
angel's help. Once, the couple drove from Las Vegas to El Paso
through Death Valley - and only later discovered that their car's
fan belt hadn't been functioning at all. How had they managed to
cross a treacherous desert without a vital piece of engine
equipment? Virginia believes they were protected by spiritual
beings.
But it was during another journey, about six years ago, that
angelic guardianship seemed especially vivid. The Jacksons had
visited their daughter in Hudson and were driving home on a
Sunday evening. "We try never to travel then, because in the area
where we live, everything is closed and deserted," Virginia says.
"If you get in trouble on the road, there's no place to go for
help."
They had covered only a small distance when their car
headlights went out. What to do? William pulled over, raised the
hood and looked hopefully down the road. Virginia started to
pray.
Almost immediately a policeman drove up. "Do you know of a
garage open on Sunday nights around here?" William asked.
The trooper thought a minute. "There may be one. Why don't you
put your hazard lights on and follow me?"
The Jacksons did so, but the garage was closed. Since they
lived in a neighboring county, the policeman wasn't able to leave
his route and escort them farther. Instead, he led them to Route
41. "Park here along the road," he suggested. "Someone's bound to
come along who can guide you closer to where you live." As the
policeman was speaking, a car pulled up ahead, and William and
the policeman went over to talk to the driver.
"Aren't we fortunate?" William said to Virginia as he got
back into the car and the policeman drove off. "That fellow ahead
is driving right past our town. He'll go slowly, and I told him
when we get to Route 44, we'll turn off. What luck, out here, to
find someone going in our direction!"
Virginia was not so sure it was luck. She kept praying.
The couple honked as they reached their exit, and the good
samaritan ahead waved and drove on. Now the Jacksons crawled to
the Mid-State Bank, right in the center of their deserted town.
They were only a few miles from home, but the dark drive would be
extremely dangerous without lights.
"Why don't we sit here for a while, in case someone we know
drives by?" Virginia suggested.
A few minutes passed. Then a red car approached. Instead of
parking or leaning out the window to inquire about them, the
driver, an indistinguishable figure in the darkened interior,
slowed down and pulled in front of the Jacksons. In the bank's
parking-lot lights, Virginia could see the first few digits on
the car's license plate, and they seemed familiar.
"I think that's someone we know," she told William.
"Well, he seems to be waiting for us to follow him." William
started the car and eased behind the stranger, who pulled away
very slowly.
The last leg of the Jacksons' journey was almost over. What
a relief. It could have been so dangerous, and yet they had been
protected every inch of the way. Virginia continued to look at
the car in front of them as they drove. Although she couldn't see
the driver, she was able to read, a little at a time, the
remaining digits on the license plate. "Oh, I know who that is!"
she finally told William. "I recognize the number. That car sits
in a driveway a block from our house. I pass it all the time - no
wonder it seemed familiar."
Sure enough, when the driver approached that house, he
tooted and turned into the driveway. William and Virginia waved
their thanks, then went on to their own house, glad to relax
after their ordeal.
The next day they decided to thank the driver personally,
and they walked down to the house. The same red car, with the
same license plate, stood in the driveway where they had watched
it turn in last night.
A woman answered their knock, and as the Jacksons offered
their thanks, she grew more and more mystified. "I wasn't out at
all last night," she protested. "I never drive at night." "Then
it was your husband;" Virginia concluded. "That's impossible,"
the woman said. "My husband couldn't have led you home."
"Oh, but he did," Virginia said. "Without his help, we'd probably
still be parked at the bank. I saw your license-plate number. And
that red car definitely turned into this driveway."
The woman shook her head. "You don't understand," she told
Virginia, "I'm the only driver, and I haven't moved the car in
several days. It couldn't have been my husband. He doesn't drive
anymore. You see, he's blind."
The Jacksons later discovered that the man in the house was
indeed blind. And for some time, whenever Virginia met her, the
woman would give Virginia a look as if to say, "What kind of
hallucination have you had today?"
The couple has puzzled over their rescue since then. But
however it happened, one thing is certain. "I was praying for
help during the whole journey," Virginia sums it up. "Why should
I be surprised that we received it?"
...................
To be continued with another true story
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