Column: There ain’t no atheists in ferry overload lanes

Twice recently I’ve been reminded of that old truism: “There ain’t no atheists in foxholes,” a sentiment quite common during World War II.

The first time was when I was driving Ann Cozzalio’s car. Cozzalio had kindly taken my wife and I to Jeff VanDerford and Nancy Ries’ wedding in Bothell in October. Cozzalio asked me to drive back and use all the shortcuts I knew when she worked at The Journal long ago.

We were the last car to make the 5:30 after leaving Bothell about 3:50 p.m.

No one noticed my silent prayers at stop signals, traffic slowdowns and particularly when we were designated No. 15 and put in the overload lane.

Then, this last Friday, after going over on the Sealth at 8 a.m. to get another CAT scan on my noodle, which had been battered by a Brooklyn sidewalk, I was caught in the act when my wife asked me what I was mumbling.

You see, I have a tough time with totally silent prayer. I always feel that God wants you to at least mouth the words so he can check your urgency and sincerity. I was saying the Serenity Prayer at the time, one of the most popular of prayers known to man and God, to wit:

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Others on overload (I was No. 11 trying to make the 3:45 p.m. this time) were glued to their steering wheels as the on-timers were snugly parked. The ferry loaders and deck hands maneuvered vehicles for maximum capacity by exchanging walkie-talkie information.

I can’t say for sure that the others on overload were praying, but I can’t remember being a passenger in that situation when the driver didn’t make some remark, e.g.: “Please, dear God, let us make this boat tonight!” or words to that effect.

Of course, such prayers are more common in the holiday or vacation seasons and I personally believe that they work if they are not totally self-serving.

Anyhow, we even had one more car make it after us this time.

— Contact Columnist Howard Schonberger at newsroom@sanjuanjournal.com or 378-5696, ext. 12.

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