Do the next right thing

The best gift I received in 2021 came on Thanksgiving Day when a man called to thank me for saving his life 50 years ago.

I remembered the incident.

I was stopped at a red light on Reisterstown Road in Pikesville. As I looked up at my rear view mirror, I saw a car approaching from behind. I thought to myself: “He’s not going to stop!” He didn’t. He plowed into the back of my car.

Fortunately, I was not badly hurt. I got out to see if I could help the driver of the other car. Fortunately, he was not badly hurt either. We exchanged insurance information, and I was able to drive away. Once my car was repaired, I thought no more of the incident.

However, in the Thanksgiving message from this man, he told me the rest of the story.

He explained that this was more than just a fender bender. He said that he was heading to Druid Ridge Cemetery, less than a mile ahead. He explained that he was going to his mother’s grave, where he intended to commit suicide. Because of the accident, he said, he decided not to kill himself.

As I have written in a 2018 Catholic Review column, years after that accident I heard from another person who knew the driver. He told me then that the traffic accident actually wound up saving his friend’s life. But, to put it mildly, I was deeply moved and deeply grateful to hear this story from the very man whose life was saved.

God works in strange and wonderful ways. I’m not sure where I was going that day. I was stationed at St. Charles Parish in Pikesville, so I may have been going to visit a parishioner. I may have been taking Reisterstown Road to take the Beltway to visit my mother.

As I’ve shared in other columns, we all want to do God’s will. How do we know we’re doing his will? As I’ve said before: Do the next right thing!

I hadn’t run into a burning building to help someone to get out. I hadn’t dived into a lake to save a drowning person. I had not scaled a mountain to rescue someone from an icy ledge.

I just did the next right thing.

There used to be an old theory taught in economics classes about the “invisible hand” that guided all the economic forces. That theory is no longer taught. We realize that supply and demand runs our capitalist economy. But we can believe in an invisible hand that guides our lives spiritually. That doesn’t take away our freedom of choice, it simply helps us to be aware of God’s presence in our lives.

I was in the right place at the right time. Do the next right thing and chances are you’ll be doing God’s will. 

Also see

Radio Interview: Carrying grace into the new year

Radio Interview: Wrapping up 2025 with Archbishop Lori

Radio Interview: Inside the diaconate

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