Let My Laughter Resound!
“WHO IS IN THE WHEELCHAIR?”
It was a beautiful night, but a dark night with only the faint light from the overhead street light. For some reason, I was standing on my front sidewalk. I happened to glance down the street, towards the west. I could hardly see the object that was coming towards me, but I finally recognized that the object was a wheelchair!
I wondered why an older person, in a wheelchair, would be taking a stroll at this time of night! I could hardly see the wheelchair that was approaching me, but I continued to gaze at this rather strange sight! Whoever was in the wheelchair must be rather courageous to be out alone, at night! Maybe I soon would be able to see and to greet this rather unusual person! And then ‘surprise of surprises’! I could hardly ‘believe my own eyes’! The wheelchair that had been steadily approaching me, down the middle of the street, had no one in it! And, strangely enough, not only was the wheelchair ’empty’, but the wheelchair was in a folded position!
I was ‘surprised’, and I felt ‘foolish’ when the ‘folded wheelchair’ rolled right up to my feet, as I was standing at my curb side! What I thought was an older person taking an evening stroll in a wheelchair – taking an evening stroll down my street – turned out to be a folded wheelchair!
One of the strangest sights that you can imagine – the folded wheelchair was rolling on its own, right towards me! I had anticipated a ‘chat’ with an older person, and all I ended up seeing was an empty wheelchair! I had a ‘creepy feeling’ come over me!
How could a wheelchair ‘travel’ such a ‘straight’ course? How could a folded wheelchair be so ‘deliberate’ in it’s movement down my street? How could this folded wheelchair maintain it’s balance and have a steadfast direction that imitated the presence of a human being in it? I shook my head in disbelief!
When have I ever seen an inanimate object appear to be ‘so human’ in it’s movement? The wheelchair slowly moved down the street, and then came towards me, as if the wheelchair contained a person – contained a person who got a glimpse of me, and who intended, in the ‘name of neighborliness’, to stop near me to visit a little with me! When I saw an empty wheelchair (a folded wheelchair), I gasped with surprise and with great astonishment!
When I saw the folded wheelchair, it did not take long for me to recognize that this wheelchair belonged to us (to my wife and to me). During the last nearly 20 years, we have cared for a few elderly ones, in our home. Strangely, I realized what had happened was odd and unusual. Of course, if we have an extra wheelchair stored in our garage, it is, obviously, stored with the wheelchair in a folded position.
It is hard to imagine, but the folded wheelchair rolled out of our garage, down the driveway, over the curb, on to the front street, and then the folded wheelchair made a sharp turn, and it continued to roll down the center of the street for about 15 yards!
Amazingly, the folded wheelchair then made a U-turn at that point in the middle of the street! Then the folded wheelchair proceeded to roll back to where I was standing! It is hard to believe, but the folded wheelchair never fell over, during its remarkable ‘journey’! That fact itself is phenomenal! Traveling down the driveway and over the curb and turning on to the street and then, after traveling several yards, turning around and traveling back!
This ‘well-trained’ folded wheelchair reminds me of a well-trained dog. Except the movements of this inanimate object (with no soul and with no determining ‘will’), is more remarkable than the movements of a dog (which has the capability of being trained).
The movement of this folded wheelchair was so ‘startling’ and so ‘amazing’ for more than one reason. I found the movement of the folded wheelchair to be (as I mentioned) somewhat like the movement of a dog that is well-trained by its ‘master’. If I didn’t know better, I would think that the folded wheelchair, which took a ‘little journey’ down my street, knew that it was to ‘come back home’, so it ‘decided’ simply to make a U-turn in the middle of the street, so it could come back ‘home’ (where it belonged)!
With my personal reflection, and with the passage of a few years, my reaction to this ‘strange’ event is amazement and astonishment. And, of course, I have also expressed some ‘laughter’ – laughter that something so ‘weird’ and so ‘odd’ could happen to me!
I took the folded wheelchair back into our garage, after it came to a ‘stop’, right at my feet! But before I deposited the ‘trickster wheelchair’ to the place where it belonged, I stood at the curb side, contemplating this ‘weird’ event!
Can you imagine how very ‘foolish’ I felt when I saw an empty wheelchair, rolling up to my feet! I felt ‘foolish’ when I realized that an inanimate object could ‘pull a trick’ on me, an intelligent human being (a creature that is made ‘in God’s own image’)! Wonder of wonders, to realize that this folded wheelchair could ‘pull’ a ‘deceptive trick’ on me!
Shame on you, folded wheelchair! I thought I was going to have a ‘chat’ with a fine older person, and all you presented to me was an ’empty wheelchair’! At least your ‘trick’ startled me, it totally surprised me, it made me gasp in amazement! At least you broke the routine of my day! At least you gave me the ‘gift of laughter’ – and, in that way, you served not only my needs, but I think you brought a ‘smile’ to God Himself! I must say, folded wheelchair, with your kind of skill, you ought to sign up for the circus!
But, remember, you must ask my permission before you leave your home! You need to stay home, when it is dark!
“Biblical Foundation For The Sanctity Of Human Life!”
Table of contents: Let my laughter resound!
Christian Devotionals 