Reflections from the Street

You've heard all those stories, right? You know the ones-about how your life flashes before your eyes.

It didn't.

I've heard others talk about how life goes to "slow-motion" in those moments.

It didn't.

It happened so fast-literally in the blink of an eye.

In one moment I'm riding my bike and thinking about the workout that I'm going to be doing when I get to the YMCA, in the next second I'm watching the lady coming toward me in her car when she cuts short the turn, leaves her lane and is now headed right for me. I remember thinking "I'll have to go between her car and the curb. It's going to be a really tight turn."

The next thing I remember was that the street had a pothole and loose gravel.

That was it. I don't know or remember exactly how it happened. But in dodging the car, and taking a very tight turn-the next thing I remember is I'm sliding across the street, my head to the pavement.

It happened in the blink of an eye-in just a moment. I recall this unusual feeling of surprise.

But today, I actually think it is surprising that I was surprised. After all, the bible is clear about the brevity of and the suddenness of life's end.

Consider the following descriptions:

• II Samuel 14:14 - Like water spilt on the ground
• I Chronicles 29:15 - Like a shadow, it will not stay
• Job 7:6-7 - Like a weaver's shuttle, or the wind
• Job 9:25-26 - Like a swift messenger, a swift ship, or a swooping eagle
• Job 14:1 - Few days, like a flower or passing shadow
• Psalms 78:39 - Like a wind
• Psalms 90:9 - Like a sigh
• Psalms 103:15-16 - Like grass, a flower, a breeze, a lost memory
• James 4:14 - Like a mist or the vapor from a pot

I didn't think I was going to die. I didn't have time to think it. It was afterward that I found myself surprised by my surprise.

The truth is life is short. My life is short. Your life is short. And it all can change in the blink of an eye.

So today as you pray, pray with that realization.

The moment is all you have.

In fact, a few weeks ago this statement became important to me. I've thought about it a thousand times since I first read it. "The essence of Life is in the moment, be all there."

The truth is all we have is this moment. So in light of that thought, what prayer on your heart needs to be moved to the front burner?

Don't pray like you have forever.

That's the first reflection from the street.