In the Blink of an Eye

Two things happened this last week that left me thinking about some 'end of life' issues.

The first one was the news that went worldwide about the tragic loss of the Titanic visitors. I’m not sure, but I think I felt a sigh of relief over the news that the 'catastrophic loss of pressure' most likely resulted in instant death.

The other event was me falling off a Segway.  Let me explain:  

We were on our little 'vacay', as the young people here call it, to Fraser Island. Things were going a bit slow, since Nathan was sick, so for a treat, Kylie (Daughter in Love) and I decided to sneak off and have a go on a Segway tour.  Neither of us had ever done it and so she was keen and I was terrified. After all, I'm 73 and moderately out of shape.

We got there, put on our helmets, and accepted a little help "boarding' the wiggling wobbling little platform.  From there, the leader showed us how to lean forward to accelerate.  She told us that if we leaned backward, we'd reverse, but we wouldn't be needing to do that, so just stay forward.

Off we went.  I was very VERY unsure, but tried my best.  The others tore off down the beach, leaving me little option but to follow. So I had to man up, take a big breath and lean forward.  I wobbled, I wove, but within a minute or two, I got the hang of it.  It's really a lot of fun.  

We wandered at our own pace down the beach, looking here and there at all the interesting stuff, playing tag with each other and generally getting our money's worth. Finally the time was up.  I'd hit bumps, manoeuvred in and out of water and holes, and was feeling like a winner.  I had mastered my fear. So, in a cavalier mood, I suggested we all drive our own Segways up the hill to the garage to help out our leader, who had to put them away.

She was agreeable.  Somehow, I ended up in the lead as she called out to me to make a left turn and stop at the garbage bin.

Done.  Or so I thought.  I leaned left.  

What happened next couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 seconds, but I realised that somehow, I was at eye-level with my left tire and was travelling very fast, BACKWARD.  Then there was a big jolt and a huge cracking sound.  

Here's what we think happened.  I turned left, maybe a little too fast and wide, and must have clipped the garbage bin.  The impact knocked me down to my bottom, which landed on the pressure sensitive "Reverse" mode.  I propelled myself at great speed until finally I flew off the platform and jettisoned even further backwards and down the little slope till I landed,  helmet first, on the ground with a great crash! Much further and I would have been one with the wire dingo fence, which would not have been pretty.

Naturally I was stunned, but nothing else.  Nothing hurt, the helmet had saved my head, the Segway had run over my legs, but it's so light I only have a couple of unimpressive bruises, at least to my grandsons’ inspection.

The poor leader had to use the time we saved her to stay back and write an 'incident report'. I'm guessing she won't ever let her guests make such foolish suggestions again!

In the meantime, we were able to thank God over and over that it wasn't worse.  I have a picture of the “snow angel” I had made in the sand, with an especially deep hole where my head landed. Those helmets really work!

This was made even more poignant when we found out that at about the same time, one of our church staff was walking across the worship platform in the semi dark to get something and fell into the open and empty concrete baptistry.  She's also thanking God it wasn't worse, but she's in the hospital with a banged-up head and a shattered knee.  

Here's my point if you're still with me:

Things happen.  The submarine exploded.  I fell off the Segway.  I remember when my step-sister was killed 'in the blink of an eye' in a car accident a long time ago.  People said, "She never knew what hit her."

We hear so often, "Oh, I'll think about Jesus when I'm ready to die", or "Yeah, I'll face my mortality, but give me some time to live my life first." Someone told me recently, "I have a lot of time yet". I’m reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 12:20, “This very night your life will be demanded from you.”

People asked me what I was thinking during my little event, and I can honestly say, "Nothing!"  I may have 'realised' that I shouldn't be looking across at the tire, but before that was actually a thought, it was over.  I wasn't hurt, but I could have been dead. The submarine guys didn't even have that long.  My step-sister had just accepted Christ a few weeks before in a Billy Graham Crusade, and believe me, that was the only comfort any of us had out of that!

So here it is, if YOU haven't made up your mind about what you're going to do about your future with Christ, there’s no time like the present. Don’t forget those chilling words in Matthew 25:12-13, “Truly I  tell you, I don’t know you. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Things happen.  Let's all be ready.

Thanks for praying,

Marsha