I wonder about the inspiration behind the book, “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” If I were to die and go to heaven, and if I were to meet God, or Jesus, or St. Paul, or Mohammed, or my grandpa, or my brother, and have a nice long walk and talk, I wonder how many things could be pointed out that were close calls within my lifetime. Off the top, I can think of two, and I am certain there are many many more.
I drove a few hundred miles Eastward to visit my sister a few days ago. I travelled on a Thursday, so the freeway was nearly all mine once I was away from the city. Ahead of me at one point was a pickup truck towing a tarp-covered trailer. The tarp seemed to be secure. I could see it ripple in the wind, but it wasn’t flapping or blowing loose. I followed this truck for many miles, when suddenly something blew away from the load. Luckily, I was enough car lengths behind that the object shattered to pieces on the road, rather than on my car, or worse, through my windshield. It was a large picture frame with a glass pane, or perhaps it was a window. Even so, I had to drive through the debris. At 70 mph, there wasn’t much time to avoid the situation. I prayed that I didn’t puncture any of my tires, out there in the middle of nowhere, and thanked my lucky stars that I hadn’t been hit. A fluke like that could have killed us.
Another time, on the same freeway, but Westbound this time, I recall seeing a blur whoosh by. The freeway was full that time, and it took a few moments for my mind to decipher the whooshing blur, and realize that it was a deer, crossing the road. We were all going so fast. So many drivers. So many speeding cars, changing lanes, passing one another. And somehow, impossibly, a deer managed to dart through the maelstrom. Had that animal hit any one of us at those speeds, there would have been much devastation.
So. Every day it is a blessing simply to be alive. Life is so fragile and fleeting. There is much to be thankful for!
