June 7, 2025
“Don’t be afraid; just keep trusting.” Mark 5:36b CEB
I was walking the dogs last evening at the corner of Fourth and Pembroke Streets. I heard the Buckroe Fire Station’s Alarm sound with this announcement, “Structure fire, Mallory Street…” I noticed a father and his 4-year-old son watching the action. Curiosity got the better of me as well, and I stopped to look on. In less than thirty seconds, the fire engine was pulling out of the garage, carrying firefighters already on board in full gear. I noticed the four-year-old boy waving at the engine. I turned to see the driver, waving to the little boy and honking the horn as he pulled onto the street and raced to the scene.
Corner of Fourth and Pembroke across from the fire station. Taken by AFC
I was reminded of a story in Mark 5:22-43 (click on this link Mark 5:22-43). In the story, there is a big, life-or-death situation that Jesus is responding to while surrounded by a crowd of interested onlookers, when he is stopped in his tracks. He sensed one person touching him, and power leaving him. “Who touched me?” he asked. A woman with a miserable problem, but not a life-or-death emergency, reached out and touched him. She was instantly healed. After a few wise words to her, Jesus continued on his way to the life-or-death situation as a young girl lay dying.
I was seeing just such a moment occurring. A fire engine driver is rushing to a house fire while also attending to a little boy who needs to be seen. Waving and honking even as he turned onto the street. A metaphor of God masterfully multitasking to be present to the world’s needs had unfolded right in front of me.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:26, “Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?”
It is easy to discount our physical, emotional, and spiritual pain when viewed in comparison to the troubles in the world. I do it all the time. And one small boy and one attentive driver taught me a lesson. “Don’t be afraid, just keep trusting.”
I went to sleep with that image in mind, thanking God for helping me to see what was unfolding. I suspect such things happen all the time, we just miss them because of preoccupation with other things. I pray we can pay attention to the presence of God in small and big things. ~ Anne
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