"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
"Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isaiah 28:10
A few weeks ago I helped escort a Sixth Form Enrichment trip to Paris. The concept behind such a venture was to broaden the horizons of pupils who might otherwise miss out of such cultural opportunities and help foster a respect of cultures beyond their own. Little did I realize how my own horizons would be widened and my appreciation of the Father's omnipotent, omnipresent care augmented once again.
Prior to the visit I had spoken at length with a family member as to the ever practical, ever available nature of God‚s love and how none of God‚s children can stray beyond His all encircling arm. The Loveliness of Love was all around we reasoned and expressed by all we came into contact with. We thus concluded that the trip would be enjoyable, exciting and most of all a blessing to all.
Having spent two very pleasant days in Paris we had taken the students to the Latin Quarter for our final meal and a chance to purchase souvenirs. The students had gone off in groups and we had arranged to meet outside Notre Dame later that evening.
Upon leaving the restaurant however we heard that the Pope had died earlier that evening and the square outside Notre Dame was packed. I paused to take a photo and upon reaching the meeting point quickly realized that the group had gone. (In the crowds and confusion I later learnt that a head count of pupils had been taken and finding all present and correct the group had headed to the hotel via the tube. It was only once back at the hotel my absence was noted.) Although fear tempted me; I was alone in a foreign city, late at night with no map and little knowledge of the language, I was able to calm my thought in a relatively short space of time. The loveliness of Love is all around‚ I said quietly to myself, adding a little more loudly OK Father, how are we going to get out of this one ?‚
My mobile phone flashed on low battery and none of my colleagues were answering their phones. All material streams were dry! Eventually I managed to make myself understood however and discovered a metro station only to find that the ticket machine was out of order. That moment a man arrived in the station and in fluent English offered to escort me to another station and worked out my route back to the hotel for me. I had to change trains but at each station I was pointed in the right direction.
By this point it was nearly midnight and my friends had discovered my absence. A colleague who knew Paris well told me which exit of the station to use and was there ready to meet me and frog-march me back to the hotel when I arrived!
The next morning I was describing the whole event to the 8 year old daughter of one of the teachers who had also come on the trip. I concluded that the man on the metro had been like a guardian angel. She responded “God did that you know.”
“Yes Emily” I replied “I do believe He did!”