My son Nick rang me urgently this morning. He was en route to the Liverpool Ferry, had slept in and had lost his way. His voice was pretty desparate as he tried to find the ferry terminal. I told him I was useless at this sort of thing and handed him over to Bryan. Now it's years since we travelled on that particular ferry so B had to look it up on his computer and from there tried to talk him in. I heard him telling Nick to look for the tunnel, emerge at a roundabout and follow the signs for Birkenhead. 5 minutes later I received an even more urgent phone call 'Mum, I still can't see any signs and the ferry closes in 10 minutes.' Again, I called for Bryan who immediately realised there were 2 tunnels. He tried to ring the ferry company but couldn't get through. We decided he would have to drive on to Stranrear and get the ferry there. 10 minutes later I received a text 'Mum, the ferry company rang me and talked me through. I have arrived in time.'
I was so pleased cause I knew it was important for Nicholas to be on that ferry. When I got to thinking about it, it made me realise we can talk people through problems but unless we have real knowledge of the situation we can't really empathise. The quiet voice of someone who knew exactly where Nick was guided him there cause he was in familiar territory.
Reading through Thoughts I often come across problems people are sharing about where they are in life right here and now. Because I've been through quite a bit in my life I am sometimes in the position to ride alongside them and tell them there is light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes I simply can't because the problem is new to me and not something I identify with. Although it's always possible to add a word of encouragement, sometimes it's best to leave it at that. So forgive me if I'm silent a lot of the time, it's not because I don't care, it's just because I don't know the area and I'm not familiar with the problem. Doesn't mean I don't care.
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