Crossing the Road
In the name of the Lord Jesus I bear testimony. As I reflect on the past few months, I see many teachings God has given me. He has shown me my past, my present, and the life He wants me to lead.
February 27, 2007, began as any other day. I did not anticipate anything out of the ordinary. But because I needed to get to school early, this was one of the few days that I rode my bicycle to school, which is about five minutes away. Since school got out early that day, a few friends and I had planned to eat lunch after school ended; however, a couple of people did not show up, and one had to leave early, so I decided it was better to go home.
What happened to me next was especially vivid. I still cannot believe it happened. Since I was starving, I rode my bicycle quite fast. As I got to an intersection, I could see some students blocking the sidewalk so I had to go around them by riding on the grass. Because of this, my speed decreased significantly. Just ahead, I could see the hand signal begin flashing. I had to decide whether I wanted to make it across the street or stop and wait. Since that street only had two lanes, I decided to try my luck and cross before the light turned yellow. What happened next took me by surprise. A small SUV was moving toward the intersection, on the street I wanted to race across. Normally, before I cross intersections I try to make eye contact with the driver of the vehicle to be certain that he or she has seen me. However, for some particular reason, I did not do that this time and only focused on getting home so that I could eat. As I started crossing the road, I could sense how the car was inching forward. I was surprised because I was quite certain that the driver had seen me as I entered the road. I just assumed that she would brake. However, she did not.
At that point, a rush of adrenaline filled me, and I tried going around the car. However, the car was going too fast and I could not swerve around it. I was hit on my left side and fell off my bicycle head first, hitting the ground. Just before impact, I suddenly became aware of what was happening and what has going to happen, so I quickly stuck my right arm out to protect my head. But it was too late; although my arm did take roughly forty percent of the impact, the area around my eye had taken the rest. After several seconds, I turned around and found that part of my body was actually under the car. At that point, fear struck me because if the driver did not know that she had hit me, she would continue driving and would literally run me over. Then thankfully, I vaguely recall the driver helping me to the sidewalk and a couple of my friends who saw me hurrying to notify my mother. What really touched me was how many strangers gave up their time to be with me. One particular lady in a car even parked nearby and told us that she had called the police; she stayed with me until the policemen and ambulance arrived.
The doctors told me I should be thankful that I had hit that particular part of my head; if it had been a different position, I would have probably gone into a coma or become chronically ill. For the next two days, I stayed at home. I had a huge abrasion across my face, a black eye, and a sprained arm. This time of rest allowed me to really think about what had happened to me. What I found ironic was how I had been hit because I was in such a hurry to get home so I could eat. But as it turned out, I didn’t get home or eat until five hours later.
When I compare this incident to my spiritual journey, I see many similarities. We all have a destination: our home or the kingdom of heaven; we all have a reason to live: for food or to have eternal life. Although I had expected to be home and eating within five minutes, that five minutes turned into five hours. In the same way, although we may all expect to be in heaven one day, many things will happen on this journey before that is even possible. If my friends had shown up for lunch as planned, if there had been no pedestrians blocking the sidewalk, or if I had just peddled one second faster or slower, none of this would have occurred. But ultimately, I did get into an accident. What this means in our spiritual lives is that we can’t assume things happen because they are coincidences or a natural part of our day. Some of these things can be our very downfall if we are not careful.
To this day, I am unable to cross that same road again without my heart rate increasing sporadically. I have scars to remind me of this teaching: to be aware of our small decisions in life. These decisions, to cross or not to cross the road, can affect our spiritual journey. This incident has taught me to constantly examine my faith and to be aware of how the small things in life that may not seem to matter to the rest of society, matter to God. We may expect to be in heaven one day but because of these unforeseen factors, we may or may not reach that destination; just as if I had turned my head the wrong way, I might never have seen my home again. May all the glory be unto His name.
Timothy Wei,J2
Canoga Park, CA