Dear Friends in Christ -
Living right here on the town green with the fire department only a block away, I'm accustomed to hearing the sirens go by. Soft from a distance, louder as they get closer, then fading as the trucks move past.
Today, the sirens were soft at first, then louder as they got closer. Then they stopped. That abrupt end to the regular pattern drew me to the window. When I looked out, I saw two fire trucks, two ambulances, three police cars and a few vehicles of volunteer firemen parked awkwardly on the lawn. Uh oh.
Before I flew down the stairs to greet them, I looked out the window again. No smoke. So at least that was a small comfort.
As I crossed the parking lot, I saw it - a large American-made car perched up on the rock wall surrounding the chapel with its front end mashed into a boulder put in the flower garden as a landscape ornament. If it weren't for the boulder, the car might have ended up in the sacristy!
Even better news: no one was hurt. The elderly gentleman driving the car said that the brakes failed as he was navigating the parking lot. Sure enough, when the tow truck guys came, they could push the brakes all the way to the floor.
All's well that ends well, they say. And that was certainly true today. A couple of other cars in the parking lot were also damaged, but not badly. The gentleman driving the car was shaken up, but not terribly.
The police officer in charge kept saying that we didn't need all the fire trucks. But I was grateful that they came out in such force when they heard something was amiss at the church. They wanted to be sure that the people - and the church - were OK. I thanked them. And I meant it.
Faithfully,
Janet+
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