Brief encounter

I saw God today.

At lunch time.

Surfing on the back of a lorry.

I was crossing the footbridge over the main road between the office and the supermarket when a figure caught my eye. He was laughing, his long hair streaming behind him in the slipstream, clearly loving every moment of being alive. His feet were placed one in front of the other, his knees bent, in the classic surfer pose as the lorry thundered down the road.

I smiled down at him as I walked, privileged to have seen the Creator dropping by to take a closer look at the creation and thrilled that he was taking such joy in it. No way, I thought, not in a thousand years would I be able to find that much happiness in this world. Everything seems so broken so much of the time.

The lorry passed into the distance and out of sight. On the very edge of hearing, I thought I heard his voice.

"Wheeee!"

Smiling, I carried on. The shopping wouldn't do itself.