Lord, Can You Help Me?

An Inconsequential Moment Turned Meaningful

It’s 1 o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, November 6, 2025, as I’m driving west of Salt Lake City. My tank is below a quarter full, but for some reason, I’m not paying close attention to where I am, as I mistakenly think I’m entering Nevada, when in fact, I’m still in Utah crossing the Great Salt Flats. (GPS may have weaned us off maps, but they didn’t replace them.)

Let me tell you it’s a lot of space between things there, and a lot of space between gas stations, so I see one Sinclair gas station, but I’m still thinking I’m in Nevada, with that straight run of casinos, motels, and gas stations coming up.

I thought things were OK, but they weren’t. I kept driving and driving. I finally saw a sign for a town called Knolls, but when I got to the exit, there were no services, and none of the other next several exits had services either.

So, now it’s getting down to it, and my fuel gauge is on empty. I keep on going and it gets below empty, and I’m thinking what the fuck am I gonna do? 

So, I tried to calling the Nevada State Police, but I couldn’t get through… so, then I called 911 and that gets through, I assume because they have their own dedicated satellite connection.

I’ll tell you what happened next, but before I do, I have to tell you that I was moved in my situation to call upon the Lord for help … as in… “LORD, CAN YOU HELP ME?” … That’s exactly what I said, and I said it (or sang it) at least 20 times… in my best Roy Orbison-infused gospel chest voice. 

“Lord, can you help me? 

So, I get through to 911, and I’m embarrassed, as I’m calling 911 because I’m running out of gas and in the larger scheme of things that’s something that nobody should be calling 911 about, but the operator didn’t make me feel like a fool. She rather listened closely, and asked me really good questions. 

I used the range finder on my dashboard, which showed that I had 10 miles left to rock bottom empty, but then the dispatcher lady told me it was 40 miles to the next town, but then she informed me that there was in fact, a gas station at Exit 4. Now, at that point, I’m at Mile 9 to the Utah border, and my rangefinder says that I have 7 miles left before I go dry.

So, I’m driving, knowing that there’s nobody’s out here, and getting reception isn’t happening… and so if I run out of gas on the side of this road, I could be there a long time, but the good lady guided me to Exit 4, and though I’m not sure I have the range in the tank to get there, I kept on going.

Then I passed a rest area, because they have a lot of rest areas, I assume because the distance between them is so long, and people gotta take a leak. So, I pull into the rest area, and next to this truck, because it’s one of those guy trucks, and I said to the fella getting out, that he looked like the kind of guy that might have a can of gas. 

He said that he didn’t, but he leaned in through the window, and I explained my situation, after which he said, “Look, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I gotta walk my dog, but you go on down the road. See if you can get to the gas, and if you can’t, I’ll find you and we’ll go get a can of gas and bring it back.”

I couldn’t ask for more than that. I ask him his name. He said Robbie, I said Mark, and he said, “I promise I’ll do that.” I shook his hand, and as I was driving off, I said “I love you.” 

So, I kept on driving and my range was down to 2 miles as the sign for Exit 4 came up, also marked the “Bonneville Salt Flats.” I pulled off, turned into the Sinclair station, pulled up to the tank, and I filled it up. Once done, I was overcome by a great sigh of relief.

I got back on the road, without even any time lost now. At that point, I’m in Nevada, and I’m thinking about all those “Lord, can you help me’s” And I thought to myself the Lord had indeed helped me. He had sent me two angels. The first angel was the lady on the 911 call... so kind, so capable, so clear. Just keep driving. The second angel assured me, that I was on the right path, and that if anything happened to me, he would be there to back me up. So generous, confident, and ready.

In the midst of that realization, I got all choked up and teary-eyed, thinking just how lucky I was that I hadn’t filled up earlier, because if I had, I would not have had so wonderful and life-changing an experience. 

We know nothing of what is real, and who or what God is. All we know is that doing something for others awakens the possibility that the mystery of it all might work through you.

Take that with you into your life. Be one of those angels, who does that for someone, because if you do, it’ll feel good. The Lord will be working through you, and nothing feels quite as right as that, because you know, that’s how the world was always supposed to work. 

OK, pilgrims, thanks for listening.