Cliffhanger

A narrow mountain trail, a sudden slip and a last grasp at life

-  HAROLD J. MCLAUGHLIN

Do you believe that God intervenes directly in our lives? Some 20 years ago, I would’ve told you absolutely not.

That’s when I took a trip to Boise, Idaho, for work. I was an electronics engineer and business consultant, and I needed to meet with an important client there. I was walking around the city center beforehand when a woman approached me. I had a feeling she might be a member of some kind of group, interested in proselytizing and maybe handing out pamphlets.

Instead, she struck up a conversation. We exchanged pleasantries, made small talk. Then, unprompted, she launched into a seemingly random story.

“Years ago, I was in a terrible accident,” she said. “Hit-and-run. My toddler was in the back seat. I couldn’t get her out. We were trapped with no one around to help.”

Why is she telling me this?

I wondered, growing uncomfortable. “A large man appeared out of nowhere,” she said. “He didn’t speak a word, just opened one of the damaged doors like it was nothing. He got my child out. I checked to make sure she was okay. When I looked up, he was gone! We’d been driving through farmland. There were no trees around or anything else that would shield him from view. He just disappeared!”