Before I Even Asked

Shortly after our severe storm of June 29, 2012, I saw posts on Facebook urging us to petition our state government to pressure AEP (American Electric Power) to restore electric service to everyone in the Columbus area.  I did not sign any petitions regarding AEP because I saw AEP as an instrument of the intelligence of the universe earlier in the year.

In March I heard that a good friend of mine was close to death.  His wife called people to tell them that if they wanted to say goodbye, that was the time to do it.  I was very busy at work at the time.  I am responsible for running a phone room.  The person who would normally be able to substitute for me was out of town.  Just as I was figuring a way to take time off work to visit Zach before he passed, several AEP trucks with cherry pickers entered the alley behind my office.  About half an hour before the evening shift was scheduled to start, one of the men from AEP told me that they had to replace a transformer on top of a pole in the alley and that they had to turn off our power for a few hours.

My boss convinced the men to wait half an hour so that he could save some data on his computer.  When people reported to work for the evening shift I sent them home and then called a buddy so that we could go to the hospice together.  I said goodbye to Zach that evening, but that was not the last time I saw him.  I was able to drive another friend to the hospice the next morning.  This was a person who did not drive and had not seen Zach in many years.  Zach died the next day.

Whether Zach welcomed these visits I cannot say.  He could not speak.  My ability to see him and speak to him before he passed helped me deal with his death much better than if I had not been able to do so.  I am sorry that it took his death to make me better understand a Bible verse I read many years before:  “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”  (Matthew 6:8)  Jesus of Nazareth said this just before he gave us an example of how to pray with The Lord’s Prayer.

This is how I will remember 2012.  I received other things I needed before I asked for them, but the image of several big trucks in the alley behind my office will stay with me.