Urban Legends

I fell victim to an urban legend today. Oh boy! You know what it's like. One minute I was elated and encouraged, the next, I felt foolish and returned to earth.

You've probably heard the one about the vanishing prophetic hitchhiker. You can find out all about it on www.snopes.com. Apparently it's been around since 40 AD or so, with varying details. In this version, which according to snopes, has resurged with an uptick in volume, a woman is driving down the road and encounters a hitchhiker. She feels led to pick him up. The hitchhiker says, "the trumpet is at my lip" and then instantly disappears. Shaken, the woman pulls her car to the side of the road. A policeman pulls up behind her and asks if she is okay. She then relays her story to him. He tells her, "you're the fifth person who has told me that today."

There I am, getting chills and thrilling that Jesus is coming to collect us, relieved that the struggles of this life are soon to be over, feeling as though I can fly. I was so excited to tell everyone. Thankfully, I only told one person - I'll be calling her in a couple of hours to retract what I told her.

What do I feel now? Let down for sure. It's tempting to get angry with the person who started the tale, but what good would that do? I could imagine someone laughing at my and others' expense at their little joke. But this is different somehow. I was made vulnerable by my desire and familiarity with the messenger. This presentation came through someone I know and trust, and she heard it from the brother of the woman who claimed that it happened to her. It's hard to know what to think or to do, if anything. Was she deceived? Did it really happen to her as she related to her brother? Who knows? It seems so impossible that it could be true when all of the details of her story fit the urban legend.

Then, after feeling deflated and humbled and embarrassed, I began to remember that God is still God and nothing has changed. I am His and He is mine. He loves me without limit and is always at work for my good. His character is the same, as are His promises. And . . . one day . . . in the not-too-distant future, I will be with Him. And, no urban legend can take that away! Hallelujah!!