I heard a cry. I was in the back garden and stood to listen again. What was it?  There was nothing yet I knew that I had heard something.  It had come from Andrews open kitchen window. I called out tentatively “ARE YOU ALL RIGHT”?    “No” came a muffled groan.  I rushed to the side gate sliding the lock back and entered next doors garden.

I found the kitchen window open and Andrew standing clutching his hand. His face was white and he was inspecting a bread knife.  What on earth had happened Tony mused…?

Andrew blurted out with his voice half muted with shock I was washing up and the knife, he pointed to the wall socket must have touched,  his voice trailed off as his eye fixed upon the electrical power point. He ha d recently changed the layout of his kitchen and had moved the sink unit to another wall. What he had forgotten was that the electrical point was just above the sink unit and that water and electric are a dangerous combination.

Tony realised that Andrew had had a lucky escape but remembered his conversation a few weeks earlier.  Andrew had talked about faith and God. He had asked Tony questions and Tony had taken the opportunity that presented itself to explain again the Gospel message.  That it was a personal relation ship with Jesus Christ, not a formal religion. That sin was the main problem and that God wanted men to repent and turn away from their sin to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Andrew had listened intently but wavered when it came to making any decision.  The conversation at that time had been brought about by another incident which had threatened Andrews’s life.

Tony had been away from home visiting but on returning to Gordon road was intrigued to find a huddle of folks huddled around Andrew.  There was a ladder leaning up against the house and Andrew was red in the face and flushed with excitement.  Apparently he had decided to clear his chimney of debris and had climbed the ladder to the roof, using the side alley to mount to the apex,   crawling up to the chimney pots across the roof tiles. He had not used a safety rope but he had asked Sheila to hold the bottom of the ladder while he climbed. . On reaching the chimney stack he had reached out  to  hold on to it secure himself when to his surprise the chimney stack had moved nearly toppling over.  Andrew had frozen with fear.  Sheila seeing that he was stuck had climbed herself as far as she could to talk to him.

As she talked she knew the situation was very dangerous. At that moment some neighbours walked by and on seeing Andrew on the roof laughed in a friendly manner not realising the situation was serious.   Sheila told them and immediately the laughter turned to action as Bernie climbed up to talk with Andrew.  Bernie was an electrician and was used to height so was able to speak to Andrew and gradually talk him down a slippery step at a time..

Andrew reached the ground safely and when Tony arrived and had gone to investigate what was happening,  Andrew had blurted out, “I prayed”…
Standing in the kitchen Tony remembered that this incident had also followed another question and answers session with Andrew about faith in God and in a personal walk with Jesus.   This time Andrew again had brought the subject up but had not made any response to Tony’s appeals that he pray to God and seek his face.  Tony was shocked too as he recalled another incident recently when Andrew had been involved in a nasty car smash. His car had been written off but he had escaped unharmed.

Tony wondered if the Lord was not speaking to Andrew to show him that life was not permanent only sometimes held on a silver thread which could snap at any time…

Tony prayed with Andrew and mused that the Ways of the Lord were mysterious in deed…