When I was 16, I was driving the “Yellow Banana”, my 1968 Ford Fairlane 500, to work on a blistering  hot summer day. I was about 15 minutes from home, when my vehicle began to spurt and spasm on a long, desolate stretch of country road, framed by cornfields and pastureland. Although I was in central North Carolina, in my memory,  it looked like the endless farmland you find in Nebraska or Kansas. Somehow, I had failed to notice that the “Banana’s” gas gauge registered near empty. As we came to an undignified stop,  I pondered my predicament for a moment, and then automatically began to walk.  I had not gone far, when out of nowhere came a yellow taxi.  

Now, if you live in a city, there is nothing unusual about a passing taxi, but in a rural 1978 North Carolina cornfield, it was a strange site, indeed!
 
In fact, having never traveled much to urban areas, I had never even ridden in a taxi before. Somehow, perhaps from TV, I innately knew that you “hailed” taxis, and I held up my arm to catch the driver’s  attention. I now realize that when you are a rather cute little 16 year old,  standing by cornfield, all dressed up in a breezy summer skirt  and Candies  to go to work, the “hailing” part was completely unnecessary.  The taxi stopped, and the driver took me the 5 miles or so to a gas station, free of charge, where I called my dad. How providential was that?
 
Despite the good fortune I have experienced for most of my life, I truly believe, for reasons we are incapable of understanding, that there are times in life, when we go through long periods of undeserved hardship and struggle. ( I hesitate to use the southern expression here , “It breaks my heart” but sometimes,  that it is the best description… ) These days, it breaks my heart, to hear of  good people who are suffering devastating  hardships. Many face multiple and simultaneous difficulties, a  venerable club sandwich of  pain and suffering.  Maybe they have lost their job, are facing bankruptcy or the loss of their home, are coping with illness or personal loss, struggling with issues of addiction, or have been abused by our government or social institutions. It seems so unfair. It is unfair.
 
I   am reminded of the Old Testament Bible story about Job, a good man , an exemplary man,who faced  insurmountable and catastrophic loss. He lost almost everything, his children, home, wealth , health , and more. It is a powerful story, yet one I have never particularly liked on many levels. First, it makes God seem heartless and cruel. It makes me feel small, so insignificant and powerless. How often is it that  life seems out of our control? Times when it feels like we are innocent specks being blown around in a torrential wind, unable to affect the simplest of  circumstances. 
 
Yet, I also believe, mainly because I have witnessed this in my own life, that there are times in our lives when we are the beneficiaries of  a  comprehensively undeserved grace and  good fortune.  There are times, when for reasons unknown to us,  that a Higher Power goes before us, spreading the cornfields like He parted the Sea,  and calls  forth a yellow taxi, just  when we need a ride.