Tears of An Angel

As I reflect back on my roll-over car accident of this past Monday night, I can honestly say I learned a few things.

For one thing, there is an interesting view to be had throughout the entire process. Most of my evening was spent lying on my back - in the ambulance, in the ER, rolling down hospital hallways, in the CT machine. I spent a lot of time looking up.

I think there's a reason for that. I think it's so people, when they are hurt, can look up to heaven and pray more easily. But that's just MY theory.

Another thing I learned Monday night was never assume that other cars are going to obey the traffic laws. Always assume the worst. I assumed the oncoming driver would wait until AFTER I had passed the intersection before he turned left. I was wrong. And now I have no car.

But the biggest thing I learned through this whole ordeal was something I never ever want to repeat again. Something worse than the car accident. Making my wife cry.

There was one point just shortly after my wife arrived in the emergency room when she looked down at me with tears in her eyes and whispered "I love you" and then kissed me on the forehead.

I think it was at that moment I first thought about how close I had come to fulfilling my wife's worst fears. The death of her husband. So many "what ifs" must have run through her mind on the way to the hospital. So many frightening things. I never want to put her through that again.

We all think about, and fear, the worst possible things when we get bad news. We assume the worst. That's because things like car accidents and cancer actually do happen. They usually happen to other people though. But when they happen to us or someone close to us, the game changes.

I think about Jesus a lot - how he suffered and died for our sins on that cross. He went through a lot of physical pain on our behalf. But what about His mother Mary? The emotional pain for her must have been unbearable.

The question of the day for me is "Are we close enough to Jesus to REALLY mourn His death?" Or is He just a distant figure whose death carries little meaning?

That's a tough question to answer. It is tough in the sense that, when we truthfully answer, we find that Jesus is not as close to us as He should be.

The tears of my wife in the hospital were enough to make me want to be more cautious on the road. To come home to her each night, safe and sound.

The loss of a loved one is a terrible thing to endure under any circumstances but it CAN be made easier through faith in our risen Lord, Jesus.

"20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

Tears of An Angel - RyanDan