This week I want to share with you an experience I had last Friday June 19th. I had spent 4 days in the East Midlands on holiday and needed to return to Ipswich from Derby in time for a commitment on the Saturday. I caught a train that left Derby station at 13.08 and arrived at St Pancras at 14.45 pm. It was a very hot day and I was relieved to find the train carriage had good air con and that I could find a seat and room for my luggage. I have shared with you before that I enjoy train travel and, having found a seat and bought a coffee, I settled down to read my book and doze. We stopped at Leicester and then proceeded to St Pancras where I travelled by tube and then a Greater Anglia train to Ipswich.
Why am I telling you all these rather boring details? Well, when I had arrived at my home I heard on the news that there had been a very serious train crash at Bedford at 5.15pm. Having consulted the map I realised I had travelled on that route about 3 hours before the crash. Friends who knew I had been travelling by train were in touch to check I was okay. To be honest I didn’t want to think about how close I had come to being part of this disaster. It was only the next day that I admitted to myself that, if I had travelled 3 hours later, I could have been among the injured/ traumatised passengers. All I had thought about on my journey was ensuring my comfort and getting home in good time without suffering from the heat – perhaps quite natural concerns – but I accepted that life can change in an instant and nothing is guaranteed, much as we would like it to be.
I have given thanks to God for my safe journey home, but I hope not in a complacent way. I don’t believe God sends these disasters on people, – there may have been any number of reasons for the crash but I’m sure they were related more to human error or infirmity. My main response has been, and will continue to be, to pray for the injured, their families, the bereaved, the members of the emergency services who met with such terrible injuries to treat, and the medical staff at the treating hospitals. I also pray for those who have been traumatised mentally by what they experienced.
Prayer – Loving Lord we bring to you those involved in any way in the recent train crash. May they be comforted and healed in the days to come and please grant wisdom and strength to the hospital teams treating them, comfort to the bereaved family, and sensitivity to those investigating the cause of the crash.