Article July 16, 2012 Issue

Accosted, but able to forgive

Gigi Raine

When I was in college, something happened on a train that was unsettling. I never thought I would write this article because I felt the healing was complete, and I didn’t want to rehash it. But I feel that maybe it’s time for me to write about my experience, hoping that the prayerful thoughts I worked with will perhaps benefit another. 

During my sophomore year, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Great Britain with a group of students and a professor who were all Christian Scientists. Our group travelled all over England, Scotland, and Wales, studying British literature and British history. Needless to say, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. The last few weeks of our abroad program were spent living with host families in various suburbs of London. We would travel into London to meet for class and/or to go on tours. 

The night before many of our group were leaving to travel back to the United States, we had a party to celebrate our adventure and to wish each other well on our travels home. By the time the party had ended, it was rather late, and I was feeling a little down that the trip was coming to an end. The only train leaving relatively soon for the town where my host family’s house was, was not my regular train. It made all different stops on the way there, stops I was not familiar with. But I decided to board.