One winter evening, while I was driving back to my college with two friends after an evening out, my car hit a patch of ice and spun out. We were all pretty scared, but I was so grateful that we were very quiet and nobody panicked. The car was heading toward the metal guard barrier at the edge of the road and spinning around.
All of a sudden, I heard the quietly reassuring voice of my friend, whom I trusted very much, telling me very calmly and authoritatively to put on the brakes. I knew from my driver’s education classes that when you are spinning out on ice, you’re not supposed to hit the brakes, but as I heard this voice I felt a clear sense that it was, nevertheless, the right thing to do in that moment. I put on the brakes, and the car came to a gentle stop, and we were even facing the correct direction on the road. We all caught our breath, confirmed everyone’s safety, and then continued driving.
I quickly thanked my friend for telling me to brake, as I never would have thought to do that. He and the other friend in the car looked at each other. They told me that no one had said anything; they had just been silently praying.
