“His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” – 2 Peter 1:3
It’s not the sort of thing you would envision at a busy intersection.
About a month ago, I’m waiting to turn right on May Avenue just after getting a drive-through coffee. The smell of mocha is pervading my car. The sun is shining. Life is good. Oh look… a tire is bouncing toward me.
Wait. What? Yep, that’s a big tire bouncing right toward my driver’s side window at a fast clip. The obvious questions quickly came to mind:
Where did that tire come from?
How long do I have before it violently crashes through my window?
Last but not least… am I about to be seriously injured, or worse?
That may seem like an overreaction, but I couldn’t help but think of news stories about people who died because a random tire crashed through their window. It happened just last year to an Edmond mother of four on a Louisiana interstate. A tire and wheel came off a cattle trailer truck, bounced across the median, and crashed into her SUV’s windshield. In a split second, a freak accident takes an innocent life and shatters a family.
Just as I was starting to lean away from the window, the tire took a big bounce over my trunk and crashed into some nearby shrubs. A few seconds later, a three-wheeled clunker slowly pulled up with its front-right fender scraping the ground. The driver was embarrassed. All that mattered – no one was injured.
I sat there for a second thinking about how fragile life is. You can think you’re in control of your life, but then something totally bizarre happens to remind you that you’re not.
I remembered feeling lucky to be alive in 1994 while covering a tornado that had just passed through Gainesville, Texas. While getting video of damage for a local TV station, I heard a whistling sound coming from the sky. A piece of hail – larger than a grapefruit – slammed into the mud about 10 feet away. If that chunk of ice had landed on my head… game over.
Have you ever had one of those “oh so close” moments? We don’t know how long we have to live, but we do know how our story ends – thanks to the saving grace of God.
So, while we’re here, let’s try to live the life God created us to have. A life of joy and purpose, kindness and love. It’s a dream that can become our reality, no matter what bounces our way.
Ed Doney, Staff Writer
