A quarter of a mile from my home, stands a small wooden cross
beside the road, and I drive past it every time I go to a nearby
convenience store. Flowers usually lie at the foot of the cross, a
memorial to the man who died there. Such crosses are common in most
parts of the United States. But this cross has a special meaning for
me, even though I never knew the man whose death it honors.
My family was out of milk the day the man died, so I decided
to pick up a gallon at the convenience store. I quickly changed
clothes, because I had been working in the garden and didn’t want to go
to the store in my grubby outfit.
But I felt uneasy when I got in the car. I had the distinct
feeling that I should stay home. This is ridiculous, I thought. We
need the milk. Besides, I went to all the trouble of changing clothes
just so I could go to the store.
As I sat in the car with the engine idling, my feelings grew
from uneasiness to downright fear. I finally decided not to go to the
store, and it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my
shoulders. The feeling of impending doom disappeared, and it didn’t
return.
That night, watching the local news, the reason for my
unexplained dread became crystal clear. The exact time that I sat in my
car overcome with fear was moments before a man shot up the convenience
store. The man then jumped into his car and headed towards our home,
crashing his car, and dying where the wooden cross now stands. Only
that overpowering feeling of fear prevented me from going to the store
that day. Had I gone, I’d have been in the middle of all that violence.
Proverbs 3:6 has taken on new meaning for me: “In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (KJV).
Connie Kutac writes from Farmington, New Mexico.
