Nudged across our paths

A colleague once observed, “It seems God takes great delight in nudging the unsaved across the paths of believers who are ready—those who are equipped to clearly communicate the Bible’s message.”

I thought about this recently while travelling to Winnipeg from Calgary. I was standing in line waiting to board my plane when an elderly woman stepped in behind me. I wouldn’t have noticed her except she suddenly leaned past me and motioned in the direction of two men ahead of us. Pictures of human skulls decorated their jackets, ear rings, hats, boots, and even their hand luggage. Granny’s rheumy eyes asked the question first before she whispered hoarsely, “What’s with the skulls?”

I was strangely drawn to this woman of years. She reminded me of my aging mother—frail but fearless.

The skull-emblazoned men in front of us happened to belong to one of the larger indigenous groups in Canada. I have several dear friends of the same descent and so I’m somewhat familiar with their worldview. But I was more concerned about how I was going to get this inquisitive senior to keep her “whisper” down to a level that would not attract attention. She was clearly hard of hearing.

I was saved from a potentially embarrassing situation by an ear-piercing alarm bell. Some poor soul in a wheelchair-access washroom was experiencing difficulty and had set off the alarm. Everyone froze while security officials surrounded the washroom and then entered to provide assistance. After a few minutes and to everyone’s relief, the alarm was deactivated. The sudden distraction over, we commenced boarding the aircraft. My octogenarian inquirer boarded ahead of me, as did the skull-toting duo.

The airplane was a Boeing 737-700 configured for 189 passengers. Arriving at my assigned seat I was startled to see the one next to mine already occupied by none other than the inquisitive granny. I thought, “What are the chances?”

I calculated there was about a half percent chance of this happening. My colleague’s statement came to mind. “God delights in nudging the unsaved across the paths of believers who are equipped to clearly communicate the gospel message.”

In the ensuing hour, I discovered that this lady’s question went much deeper than human skulls. She was floundering in a quest for answers about life, death and life after death.

Having grown up on the plains of Saskatchewan, I learned she was a farmer’s daughter. But like so many people I meet, she had left her childhood church, weary and disillusioned by liturgical hypocrisy. Now, many years later, she was observing her grandchildren making horrible, life-damaging choices and was very concerned for them. There was urgency in her questions.

I don’t understand just how it all works, but as I reached into my briefcase and took out a gift-copy of By This Name I couldn’t help but think, “Yep, this dear soul has been divinely ‘nudged’ across my path!”