The Bridge

I was only 14, but I remember the morning of April 5, 1987 pretty well. It was early Sunday morning when we heard that the Schoharie Creek Bridge collapsed after three decades of service to the New York State Thruway. “One car and one tractor-semitrailer were on the bridge when it collapsed. Before the road could be blocked off, three more cars fell into the gap… Over the next three weeks, nine bodies were recovered. One was never found” (NTSB, 1988).

There were many stories that were told about that day, but I recall one that my dad told. Whether it was to illustrate a point or whether it actually happened, I am not sure. The story goes like this: It was an early morning in April. There was a fog coming off the river valley as is usually the case in the early spring. The river was swollen and flooded from the spring rains and the melting snow. It was hard to see, but the Thruway is a nice safe, wide, and fast way to get back and forth across the state of NY. As Rose drove home after a long night of work, she was being extra careful because she was tired and it was difficult to see. There was a car a little ways ahead of her – she could just make out the tail lights through the fog. Suddenly, the tail lights of the car ahead of her did something unusual. They went up and then disappeared. Rose thought that was really unusual, and something stirred within her. Instinctively, she knew something was very wrong and she slammed on the brakes pulled over, and stopped the car on the wide shoulder. She didn’t even know why she was doing this, but she got out of the car and walked forward and saw, to her horror, that the bridge that she had driven over so many times was simply gone. There was a huge gap in the road and anyone who did not see that gap would plunge to their death. Rose was shaken but acted quickly. She ran back to her car and rummaged around in the trunk and found one of those red road flares. She backed her car up a little way and put her hazzard lights on. There had been no traffic yet, but she lit the flare and set it in the middle of the road. She stood by her car and waited. (This was obviously in the days before cell phones were available.) She saw headlights approaching and hoped that they would see her. The first car was really going fast, she saw their faces and they flew past her – she waved her arms and screamed, “Stop, stop, the bridge is out!” But in an instant they were gone – going too fast to really take notice of the woman waving her arms on the side of the road. Another car was coming, and they slowed slightly to see why there was a flare in the road. But they sped on, not heeding the shouting waving woman, who by this point, was crying as she knew of their impending doom. One car drove by, the driver shaking his head at the plight of this disheveled panic-stricken woman on the side of the road. He too drove over the edge of the bridge and plunged into the fast-moving Schoharie. The next car did stop, and it was a friendly guy who joined her in flagging down cars. Rose could only hope that someone was on the other side of the bridge doing the same thing. The road was finally blocked, and the police came with choppers and barricades. But all told, three cars went into the river that morning, not counting those who were on the bridge when it fell. Ten lost their lives.

I always remembered that story because even if it did not actually happen that way, it is a picture of a spiritual journey. You are driving the highway of life. It’s wide, it’s safe, it’s smooth and you can get to your destination fairly quickly. Suddenly, you see someone standing on the side of the road saying, “Stop, stop! Danger ahead. Don’t go this way!” And many times, the warning is ignored and sometimes even mocked. “What’s with that loony guy? Doesn’t he realize that no one is going to listen to him? He’s wasting his time standing there yelling.” I guess when I think about this, I imagine that guy is the Holy Spirit. He’s standing there shouting. He’s begging. He’s pleading with us. “Stop! Please. Certain destruction is ahead of you if you don’t stop. I know of a better way, a safer way. It might not be a nice wide highway, and it has a few turns in it, but it’s safe and I will drive with you the whole way if you want.” Then, I think of the message of Joel, who was essentially saying, “There is danger ahead – judgment is coming. Get ready, because everything you know is about to be destroyed…UNLESS you take this different road.” And the reason God is standing there is because he has given us the amazing gift to choose to drive the wide road or follow his road, and it is His great love for us that makes Him stand there, begging for us to stop long enough to hear the truth. The bridge is out folks… The world’s route leads to certain doom, but the path of God leads to eternal joy and love.