A tale of a bus ride

Ever needed to be somewhere, and you planned your journey from start to finish, only to discover along the way that you are in the wrong bus? Well, that was my case today…

I had an appointment to meet up, and because living in Denmark has made me a little more time conscious, I make efforts to be on time. This effort entails planning my journey from start to finish.

I took the first bus, but I needed to change to a second bus with the number 42 at some point along the way. Got to the point of change early, because the first bus had arrived earlier than scheduled. Glanced and saw number 42 written on the bus stop sign. Confident that I had arrived early enough to meet the next bus, I just sat down and waited.

Directly opposite me was the bus stop for buses going on the other direction. I can remember thinking that it was nice the two stops for each side were directly opposite. It would save one having to frantically find the bus stop for buses going in the other direction. This used to be the case for me sometimes.

Few minutes later, I saw bus 42 coming on my side. It was at that point I realized, that though it was the right numbered bus I was scheduled to take, it was not going in the direction I needed to go. I was on the wrong side of the road. Mistake no 1.

I hurriedly crossed over and luckily I still had time to catch the right bus.
The all had the same bus number 42 but they were not all going in the same direction.

Finally, I believe I am seated in the ‘right’ bus going in the ‘right’ direction, so I balanced comfortably and began to write notes on my phones. I hear a familiar stop called out and I look up… Men and Brethren, not only am I in the wrong bus, I am in the bus going directly back to where my trip first began! No, I was not in bus 42. Mistake no 2… So much for planning.

There was nothing I could do but start the journey again. Be more watchful and pray that I do it right. I called the person I was to meet up with and we had a good laugh at my mistakes and the lessons I can learn from it.

Did I not pray this morning? I did. Did I not plan enough? I did. So why on earth will I take the wrong bus? Truth is, I was not looking. When the Bible says watch and pray, be awake, alert and on guard, lest we fall into temptation, its definitely on to something. Falling into temptation, disguised in the right container, has consequences. The signs are there to avoid, but we might just fail to watch.

It was good I planned. At the least, when I took the wrong bus, I still knew where I needed to be and how to get there. Sure, I got there later then I planned, but the good news is, I still arrived

The upside, aside the lessons I learnt, I saw this old couple waiting at the stop. They looked to be in their late 60’s early 70’s. Its so cold right now, so the woman went into the bus stop enclosure while the man still stood outside. At some point, he tapped on the glass and they waved at each other like two teenagers in love, and I go awww…