Preacher's Piece

A few weeks ago, I went on a one-day road trip to Kokomo, Indiana. I don’t follow a map anymore - just my GPS. The beauty of GPS is that if you take the shortest route, you usually end up on the backroads somewhere.

Such was the case on this trip. It was early in the evening on the way home in gray, post-dusk December darkness. I was driving through Indiana on narrow roads that I had never been on before. On the outskirts of a small town in the middle of nowhere, a railroad crossing gate went down in front of me. The loud clanging bell-like noises and red lights flashing somewhat...