I vividly remember how prayer helped to prevent a car from hitting a group of people. I volunteered to drive my friend Sue’s car from San Gabriel Valley to downtown Los Angeles to take care of some business. She had just moved here from overseas and was not familiar with the area.
I had been driving for many years and even though it was not my car, I was sure I could handle it. But when I took the exit to downtown, I felt something strange going on with the brake. It felt so loose that instead of hovering over the floor, my foot actually kissed the floor each time I pressed down on the break. Fortunately, I was able to get the car to stop at the first light. Given that it wasn’t my car, I thought maybe this was just how this particular car drove, so I continued on the road. Far ahead I could see a red light and many pedestrians getting ready to walk across the street. Given my earlier experience exiting the freeway, I immediately began to step on the brake.
Oh, no! The break was not responding! I tried hard to press on the brake but the car preceded to move forward. I still remember what it felt like to see the image of the pedestrians getting bigger and bigger as the car crept closer and closer to the crosswalk. I was so frightened that I was going to hit them. I felt so trapped that I envisioned myself holding the steel frame of a jail room. Out of panic, I yelled, “pray!” Immediately, I could hear Sue’s and her two kids so fervently and eagerly filling the car with voices of prayer. Right before I was giving up the hope, the car made a sudden stop right in front of the pedestrians.
Just like that, the car completely stopped right in front of them. Some gave me the gesture of pointing their fingers at their eyes, as if saying: “Didn’t you SEE us?” Clearly, they were scared for their lives, and so was I. None of them realized that the prayer prevented the tragedy from happening at that time.
We were all so shaken up. We got out of the car, pushed it to the side of the road and called AAA. We climbed back into the car and prayed again as we waited to get towed. We prayed with tears streaming down our faces. We thanked God for helping make everyone safe. We were also grateful to be alive to share this experience.
Now let me be clear on my interpretation of what happened with the car: I believe that miracles can come to us in times of desperation as a result of our own earnest efforts in partnership with the wonderful workings of God and/or the Universe. Had I not applied my foot to that break with all of my might, I’m not sure that the powers at be would have come to my aid. I took action, and where my actions perhaps fell short of what was needed to prevent injury or loss of life, a higher power stepped in. Therefore, in my opinion, equally important to prayer is the need for us to take responsibility for our own lives.
That being said, I believe that indeed, miracles can happen through prayer. Sometimes when we, as human beings, feel the most powerless and helpless, we can only pray. In our humble experience, prayer can spark the flame that ignites the powerful force of miracle into our lives in the most desperate of times.
祷告带下奇迹
我还清楚记得,祷告帮助我避免了开车撞到一群人。记得一次,一个朋友-苏刚刚从台北才搬过来这里,不熟悉的这里的环境。我主动的帮助她开车到洛杉矶市中心,去参加教会其他弟兄姊妹在市中心传福音。
我己经驾驶多年,即使这不是我的车,我知道开起来也应该驾轻就熟的。但是,当我在市区的一个出口出来时,我踏刹车畤感觉有点怪怪的。看上去很松,我的脚一踏好像都要碰到底了,车子没有停止,到后来好不容易终于停下来。由于这不是我的车,我想也许我不熟这车子的性能,所以我继续往前走,远远的我看到了前面的绿灯即将换成红灯。许多行人准备过马路。意识到我刚刚的经验,我立刻开始踩刹车。
哦,不!刹车失灵,车子仍然往前滑行。我拼命的踏刹车,只见行人看起来,越来越靠近,他们的脸也看来越来越大。我又惊又怕,深恐撞上他们。在那一霎那,我似乎看见自己撞了人而被关在牢房中,两手握紧铁窗,满脸无助的神情。在那个时候,恐惧抓住我,我听到自己歇斯底里的大喊:正当我无计可施,准备放弃希望的时候,说时迟那时快,车子硬生生的在行走的路人前面嘎然停住。“祷告”。随即,我听到苏和他两个孩子迫切祈祷声音。
就这样,车子猛然停在路人面前。突然发生的事情让路人吓坏了,也气坏了,他们怪我为什么不早一点停车,车子几乎碰上他们。很多人给我手势,他们用两只手指向他们的眼睛,仿佛质问我“难道你没看见我们?”很容易看出,他们也担心被撞到。他们可能想都没想到,车上我们的祈祷避免几乎发生在他们身上的悲剧。
我们每个人也吓得得手脚发软,好不容易镇定下来,下了车,把车推到路边,并打电话给AAA公司(这家公司提供保险外也有拖车的服务。)然后等他们来拖车。我们回到车里,我们又祷告,这次我们泪流满面,充满了感恩。我们感谢上帝给我们奇迹,他保佑我们,以及让每个人都安全。我更感谢能够活着分享这个奇迹。
现在,让我解释发生在这车上的事情:当我们绝望的时候,我们迫切与神或与宇宙有美妙的连结,加上我们的付出努力会带来奇迹。如果我没有把脚用力的踏在刹车上,我不敢确定,上天会即时来帮助我。我采取行动,明白自己的力量不够让车子停止,更高的权能便来帮助我。我认为我们要对自己生命负责任,采取行动与祷告同等的重要。
说到这里,我的确相信,奇迹可以借着祈祷发生。有时,当我们感觉最无力和无奈时,我们只能祈祷。在我的卑微的经验中,我相信祈祷可以激发及点燃出奇迹的强大力量进入我们的生活中。