In the twinkling of an eye 1/13/24

 January 14th, 2024

Just like that

Every once in a while you experience what is called a “teachable moment”.  A teachable moment is when you experience something that has a great lesson for life wrapped in it and that experience opens your eyes to that great truth, and here I might add, you learn the lesson by observation and enlightenment without always having to pay the costs of learning the lesson the hard way.  Here’s an example from my own life;

When I was 16, I owned a Honda Sport motorcycle, and like any 16 year old male, I loved speed and the feel of acceleration.  Just top off the tank with pure testosterone, twist the throttle, and “let’er rip ‘til the valves floated out”- instant Nirvana!!  To make a long story short, one Saturday in I think September, I was working on tuning the engine and after making some adjustments, hopped on it and started to head out of town to see if it made any improvement.  Before I hit the edge of town I found myself behind a VW bug that insisted on only going the speed limit.  At the edge of town as the VW and me on my bike were crossing over a creek, I swerved into the other lane, opened the throttle w-i-d-e open with the intention of passing and at the same time showing the VW driver the proper way to leave town.  The engine roared and I accelerated like I was shot out of a cannon.  Ya Baby!Life is Good!!

 Just as I was about to pass the VW I noticed its turn signal was blinking -- the left one.  I can’t remember if I ever hit the brakes or not before I piledrivered myself into the side of the car.  I woke up in Parkview Hospital in Ft Wayne with more stitches than a Raggedy Ann doll and a bucket’s worth of broken bones (including two crushed vertebrae).  Later the surgeon comes in and checks me out, and casually asks me to lift my left foot off the bed.  I look down at my foot and nothing is moving.  He asks me to try the same with the right foot..same result, nothing moves.  He takes his ink pen and pokes each foot, I feel nothing.  He tells me he’ll be back tomorrow to see if things are any improved, and walks out the door. 

It was then, the realization your life can change course dramatically in the twinkling of an eye became apparent to me.  Probably up to just two seconds before impact I thought this was just another fall Saturday.

That wreck changed the course of my life.  I think it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.  Experiencing how close to death/paralysis I came and then having my life returned to me at the age of just sixteen showed me in no uncertain terms just how fragile life is and how little control we have over events.  I’ve tried to pass this awareness onto my kids and grandkids, time will tell.  The next time you're traveling down the interstate and you pass one of those little white crosses off in the grass, ask yourself this; “Did they have any inkling they were going to die that day?  The bible reminds us of this in the book of James he writes;  “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow…”. Not knowing what tomorrow will bring is a good reason to tell those who need to hear you say that you love them, just that, that you love them and they have a special place in your heart. To those with whom your relationship more resembles a frost-choked deep freezer, you may want to be the person who takes the first step towards reconciliation. To those who haven't recently checked their Balance of Accounts with God, maybe this will motivate you to renew your relationship with your maker and redeemer, he's always available, 24/7.

We do our children a great service when we make them aware of the fact their life can end at any moment, nobody has a lock on three score and ten.  But not in a way that induces fear and timidity, but in a way that instills a sense of zest-for-life, an appreciation for the beauty that surrounds us, a caring for and identifying with the stranger among us.

bobb