On a recent Saturday night I was returning from a beach trip spent with our elementary school families. When I resumed speed after a four-way stop at the edge of Calistoga, I noticed that another car was pulling on to 29 about a block in front of me.

The turn was s-l-o-w and once on the road the driver remained slow until my lights were almost on top of him. Then he sped up to 45 miles an hour but displayed a distinctive drunken weave, left to right to left and back. Clearly he was very, very drunk. Thankfully he was alone in the car, but he certainly wasn't alone on the road. I feared he would weave into someone driving the opposite direction.

What are my options: I could try to pass him and make him stop, but my small car was no match for his heavy sedan if we should make contact. I could flash lights, trying to get him to pull over. I thought of phoning 911-but my cell phone was dead. At the very least I could follow him, and help if and when he crashed. If he were to make it to St. Helena I could honk my horn to warn people. I could follow him home, if he made it, and see that whoever he lives with understands what had just happened.

He weaved over the line to the left several times, and into the shoulder several times, once just missing a tree. Finally the inevitable happened, as he clipped an oak, went down a ravine and slammed into a rock wall. Quickly stopping with three other cars, I got back to him just as he slowly eased out of his car and stood by it, completely docile, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

From the moment I became aware of his impairment and disability I felt sorry for him, as perhaps God must feel sorry watching us sometimes. Is this what our lives seem like to God: Medicating ourselves from our pain, erratic in behavior, impaired in judgment, our lives in unwitting peril, and perhaps even threatening to others? Does God ever have to consider whether and how to intervene?

Lord, help us to follow your instruction, the scripture which is a light to our path, and to receive the Holy Spirit, Who is an honest and trustworthy Guide. With You leading us, and clarifying our thinking, we become safe for ourselves and others.

Tim Mitchell

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