Car Wreck

The morning started early. Five of us squeezed into a car for a six hour trip to Panama. Heading east we left Heredia province and entered the Braulio Carillo National Park.

In the early morning hours these mountains are often covered with thick fog. This morning was no exception. Cloudy mist hung heavy in the trees, and at times it would descend low enough to kiss the dark pavement, limiting visibility to mere feet.

We were in the mountains for less than an hour before we found ourselves stopped in traffic. Having never been on this route I considered this normal. Perhaps people were driving slowly due to the fog, or maybe there was a rock slide. There was no way to tell. There were no police, or ambulance so an accident didn’t seem likely. At least not until we came to a complete standstill.

From where we sat we could see that a truck with a trailer had collided with another car and both veered into the mountain side.

It must have just happened.

Ten minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes passed.

Just as we were considering an alternative route, sirens came careening from behind us. Fire trucks, ambulance, police, they all came in a hurry blaring their horns to get through. It’s amazing to think that had we left mere minutes earlier we would likely have been part of this accident, which from what we could tell, involved at least three cars.

After a half hour or so, a police officer began directing traffic. To avoid rubber necking we complied with his hand potions to continue forward and to pass with care. As we passed it was hard to tell if anyone was harmed, but things didn’t look good.

Mentally I counted the amount of first responder vehicles that had passed us coming to the accident. More vehicles had come than had left. Where did they all go?

One bend later, a mere 2 minute drive, we saw a couple standing on the side of the road peering off the cliff though a bundle of damaged tree canopy.

A car had steered off the road and plummeted hundreds of feet. When it reached the bottom the car exploded.

Two people were confirmed dead in that accident.

I thought long and hard about the driver and the passenger of that vehicle. Their last moments were likely filled with fear as the weightlessness of falling took over. Who can tell what the passenger was thinking, who, having no control over the vehicle, was along for the ride which now lead to their death. My heart felt like the cold fog that hung in those mountains.

Those people died.

Who was waiting for them? Were they on vacation? Were they going to work? Did they have dinner plans? For an hour or more I struggled with the fragility of life knowing that that very hour people spent their last moments on this earth.

What was their eternity? Did they believe in Jesus?

Death doesn’t cause me fear, but it sobers me all the same. I recognize that people die all the time, but something about this trip through mountains stirred my heart in a way I was not prepared for.

How close were we to death that day? There is no way of telling, but I thank God that we made it through those mountains alive.

So why do I share this?

I share because it’s a reminder to seize each day like it’s your last.

You may have your doubts about religion and the afterlife, but I promise you the Kingdom of God and Jesus are real. Don’t just profess faith as a golden parachute for heaven. The Gospel of Salvation and The Gospel of the Kingdom can radically change how you live now. For me it’s helped me to look at death and recognize it as the beginning of life and not the end.

Even if you have no desire to believe in God, I urge you to live your life free of the entanglements of bitterness, un-forgiveness, and unresolved conflicts. How many games do we play that poison our souls when tomorrow is promised to no one?

You see, that couple that went over the cliff ran out of time. They can’t say the things they wanted to. They can’t apologize to those they have hurt. And they can’t profess their affections to those they love.

Don’t let time slip through your fingers… Don’t consider eternity as something you can put off.

Death is sobering.

Somewhere in the melancholy of death and the earnest seeking for truth is Jesus, and His ways are truly best. His ways will prepare you to leave this earth with no regrets if only you are willing to follow Him.