On the particular morning the strange occurrence happened, the rain came down hard and the sky was unusually dark. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I listened to my battery powered CD and drove a little over the speed limit. The road was extremely slick, but there was no need to worry about that because flying off the road was the furthest thought from my mind.

The music came to an abrupt stop as the high pitched sound of the battery dying drowned out the sound of the torrential rain. Annoyed, I decided to scan the radio. The sound of the obnoxious radio jockey forced me to select other stations. Nothing appealed to me. The cars in front of me were moving too slow, so I changed to the left lane. As I continued, my speed increased along with my annoyance. Cars whizzed past and blocked out my entire windshield with water. The scan function on my radio stopped and a very powerful voice came through. It was a preacher. My first instinct was to switch the station because I did not want to hear about God. However, this unknown preacher’s voice captivated my attention. Assurance and confidence spilled forth from this man’s words and he calmed my aggravation. Slowly, my speed decreased as his message about finding the light within people continued.

I went from 70 m.p.h. (the legal limit) to 50 m.p.h. on the highway. Soon, a maroon SUV raced past me and it was at least three cars away. I continued to listen to the preacher speak about specific Bible stories, the characters, and how it relates to the inner light we all have. Less than a minute later, the maroon SUV swerved out of control, spun 180 degrees, and landed in a ditch. The entire incident happened so quickly — it took a minute to switch my focus from the message on the radio to the world around me. Disbelief coursed through my mind. If I had been going the original speed of 70 m.p.h, I would have been close to that car and probably involved in the accident, but this preacher’s message forced me to slow down, probably saving my life.

I am not a fiercely religious person or fanatical about my beliefs, however I always knew there was a divine being guiding us. The message I heard came to me for a reason, as cheesy as it may sound, for us not to rush through life, but to listen to the little things that are important.So now, from time to time, instead of begrudging that I cannot listen to my music and I have to resort to the radio, I’ll listen to a divine message.