A Motorcyclists' Friend
Back
in the late 70's I owned a Honda motorcycle, not one of the great big ones
but just a basic transportation model that would just keep up with freeway
traffic. One day a friend needed to get to a city about 100 miles away so
I told him I'd take him if he didn't mind riding on the back of the bike.
I took him where he wanted to go, and about halfway back to my home the
bike started riding really funny and almost threw me off! As I slowed down
I discovered I had a flat rear tire. So there I was, stuck on the freeway
about 75 miles from home in a rural area, and the sun was going down.
I
started to push the motorcycle back toward an exit ramp when I saw another
motorcyclist coming from the opposite direction. He honked his horn and
waved. At first I thought he might be making fun of my situation, or perhaps
simply offering a bit of moral support, but he went up to the next exit,
turned around, and came back. After assessing the situation, he offered
to go back home and get a van and come back to get me off the expressway
- and he lived about 30 miles away!
When
he came back, almost an hour later, as we rode into town he said his name
was Dan and in talking to him I discovered that he was a Christian and was
doing this simply because he felt this was what Jesus would want him to
do. Not that he pretended to be perfect - in fact, the reason that he had
been out riding his motorcycle tht evening was because he and his wife had
an argument, and he went for a ride to try and cool down a bit!
But
not only did he bring me and my motorcycle back into the city where he lived,
but after dropping off my bike and the van (which I think he may have borrowed
from a friend - my memory is a bit hazy on that point) at his house, he
proceeded to take me home - another 45 miles further (which was actually
about a 90 mile round trip for him!). Then the next day, he called me to
let me know that he had fixed my tire on the motorcycle! And to top it off,
when I came to pick up the bike, he wouldn't take any money for it, even
though it surely had cost him a considerable amount in gasoline, not to
mention the time and effort (and possible expense) in patching the leak
in the tire.
I
talked to Dan by phone once or twice after that, but we both moved in time
and lost track of each other, and now I have no idea where he is, but if
by some odd chance he should happen to read this, I would like to thank
him again and let him know that his act of kindness to a total stranger
was really appreciated!
