I was a freshman in college at home for the weekend. I didn’t own a car and didn’t want to make my parents drive me back to school, so I asked my friend for a ride back.

It was a long drive and we decided to take a short cut. There was an old, one-lane, gravel road used mainly by coal trucks that connected up to the main road we needed to get to. We were zooming along at a good pace talking about school and girls.

Suddenly, as we rounded a curve we saw a coal truck barreling down on us. We were moments away from a head-on collision. I could feel my heart in my throat. My friend jerked the steering wheel but I could see we weren’t going to make it.

There just wasn’t enough room. Then miraculously, we were past the truck. It was as if an invisible hand had pushed the truck aside just enough to miss us. We looked at each other and laughed with relief. Then being 18 years old we drove on without giving it another thought.

As I got older and wiser, though, I did think of that moment again. I realized that if that truck had hit us my wonderful, loving children would never have been born and would never have blessed so many with their lives. If that truck had hit us every thing I had ever written, every kind word I had ever spoken, every good thing I had ever done, and every bit of love I had ever shared since then would have been lost to this world.

Remembering this helped me to see that this life isn’t just some random collection of events but that it has purpose and meaning. I saw too that there is an invisible hand protecting us all in this life. There is an invisible love guiding us to complete our missions here. There is a Father in Heaven quietly helping us here on Earth.

Remember that life isn’t just what you see. Life is what you feel in your heart and know in your soul. Trust in God’s invisible hand then. Let His love guide you through all your days here.

Joseph J. Mazzella