A Body in the Road

Its not the kind of thing that you ever expect to really happen despite the fact that you've seen it 100's of times on TV. I turned the corner onto the country street heading toward our neighborhood tonight and my headlights swept over a body lying on the edge of the road. It was in the middle of nowhere between 2 cornfields a good 1/2 mile from any house. He was on our little farm road just a 50 feet from the main road. At first I didn't recognize what it was but as I rolled past him by my mind finally made the connection. That was a human lying on his back on the road in the pitch dark. My heart rate doubled as I looked for some place to turn around. The road is barely two lanes and there is no turn off. I finally got spun about and drove back dialing 911 with shaking hands. As the 911 call began to ring I prayed, "Lord, please don't let him be dead. Don't let me find a dead body on the side of the road." I pulled up beside him and yelled, "Buddy, are you okay?"

To my great relief he began to move and groan. I heard in the distance the sound of sirens. I was not the first to call. Suddenly, my relief was subdued as he staggered to his feet and began to yell obscenities at me and yell at me not to call 911. I hit the gas as he lurched back and forth obviously attempting to head toward my car in his spinning, drunken world. I turned the corner and looked again for another place to turn around. By then the 911 operator finally answered and the firetrucks and ambulances raced by. The operator told me they already had a call about the guy. I pulled over and watched as they drove right past him. I told the operator and he said, "They've got it covered." In other words, mind my own business.

I pulled out to finish turning around when a fireman in a pickup truck stopped me. "Did you see an incident over there." I explained what I saw. He said they couldn't find the guy. I drove slowly back looking across the black fields for him along with the firetrucks and ambulance that swept their spotlights. He was obviously very drunk or high or something and was not happy to be disturbed from his roadside nap. I was glad he wasn't dead. I also wondered why I called him, "Buddy."

We kept the doors locked tonight, although in his condition I doubt he could walk more than a few yards. I also worried he would pass out again in the field and not be found until morning. He was only wearing a sweatshirt and it is going to be in the 30's tonight. At home I told my daughter about it and that I wasn't scared but felt sad for the man. What must his life be if he ends up passed out on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. She wanted us to pray for him and we did. I prayed that he would not be found, frozen in the field tomorrow morning. My daughter was more insightful, she prayed that God would rescue him from such a sad life.

Amen.