Posted on 03/19/2017 7:58:55 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
My wife called to tell me she was stuck in traffic not far from our home. When she eventually discovered the cause of the highly unusual Saturday midafternoon backup, her heart was filled with sadness.
For it was a fatal accident involving a motorcycle and an SUV.
The biker was traveling west at “a high rate of speed.,” according to a police report. The Nissan SUV was traveling east. When the SUV turned left, the bike collided with the larger vehicle sending its rider flying through the SUV’s windshield like a projectile.
The 28-year-old biker was killed. The 51-year-old husband and 40-year-old wife in the front seat of the SUV sustained fatal injuries. Their 10-year-old daughter and 19-month-old son, riding in the back seat, miraculously survived the wreck, never to see their parents alive again.
My wife mourned for the orphaned children. I couldn’t help being angry at the dead motorcyclist for being so wreckless not only with his own life, but with the lives of his victims, who, it turnes out, were active members of their Baptist church, where the husband was a youth pastor and his wife a youth advisor who also taught Sunday school.
A few mornings after the tragedy, the Holy Spirit put it on both my heart and my wife’s heart to pray for all those involved. The orphaned children. Their deceased mother and father. The reckless biker. And the grieving families and friends of all.
It stayed on our hearts for some reason until God arranged a divine appointment this past Friday.
We had stopped by our neighborhood bank to take care of a bit of business. When we returned to our vehicle a half-hour or so later, it wouldn’t start for some reason. Instead of driving home directly from the bank, as originally planned, we decided to wait for roadside service at a nearby watering hole.
The place was teeming. There was the usual Friday evening dinner crowd. In the bar area there were St. Patrick’s Day revelers clad in green. And there was another group, wearing black tee shirts, marking some occasion or another.
As it turns out, they were the family and friends of the dead biker, whom they had laid to rest that day. He was a regular at the watering hole. He left behind his wife of two years and their 11-month old daughter.
My wife and I met the biker’s widow, Courtney, who was beautiful from the inside out. Holding back tears, she asked us to pray for her and pray especially for her daughter, whose father will never see her graduate high school or college, never see her marry the love of her life, never see her have children of her own.
The widow described her husband, a lineman, as a “friendly, outgoing person.” He loved his wife very much. And he doted on his baby daughter.
My wife and I were filled with overwhelming compassion for Courtney and grateful for the opportunity to glorify God by showing the young widow loving-kindness.
I repented the anger I had for her deceased husband for his role in the fatal accident. He did not intend to take the lives of his victims. And he paid the forfeit for his recklessness.
I could only imagine how Courtney felt. It was painful enough, no doubt, that she lost her husband, who made a tragic mistake that cost him his life. But she also has to live with the knowledge, the sorrow, the undeserved ignominy that her husband killed two people and left two children parentless.
Yet, those of us who are Christ followers take comfort from the Psalm that promises: “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
My wife and I embraced the biker’s widow and returned to our car to wait for the arrival of road side assistance. On a whim, I put the key in the ignition and turned it. The car started.
We drove off spirit-filled, praising the Lord for what we believed to be a truly divine appointment.
Thank you for posting.
I too have had events that seemed coincidental until later it became apparent they weren’t.
There are things in life that cannot be explained with science or reason that are none the less real. If you are lucky enough to have seen that, it is one of the greatest gifts of understanding a person can have.
We do not plan our lives. We may think we do, but those things are in another’s hands.
God Bless you and your family.
“Providential” is the word I think was used to descibe such events in earlier years.
We might plan then, and even predict them, but we don't have as much control as we think we do.
In this story, I was drawn to the question of "blame," and how it was assigned to the biker.
I consider myself to be a very careful driver, alert (mostly), defensive, driving isn't a contest, etc. And still, I don't think I could count all the stupid mistakes I have made over the years; some of which could have resulted in fatalities.
Apparently the motorcyclist wasn’t entirely “wreckless”...
Thank you, friend. And God bless you.
Why would you be mad at the motorcyclist?
Unless I’m reading it wrong it looks as if the suv turned into his path.
I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I always take these things with a grain of salt. “high rate of speed” could be what...5 mph over the speed limit? 10 mph?
Anytime a driver turns in front of traffic and a collision occurs, that driver is not blameless either.
I understand the point of the thread is Christian forgiveness, and will leave it at that.
I did not comment on that. That would be a more understandable explanation. Most car/motorcycle accidents are because the auto drive does not recognize the motorcycle in time.
Are you kidding me?? This idiot makes a left turn into the path of an on coming motorcycle and this clown calls the biker reckless. Let that sink in. There is no mention of the biker breaking the law or being careless, only that he was traveling at a high rate of speed. When I’m riding at 70mph in a 70 mph zone it seems like a high rate of speed to me. Had the driver of the car lived he should have been charged with causing the death of the biker, plain and simple.
We live in FLA, motorcycle accidents are a daily occurrence. When driving a car look twice for motorcycles. All cyclists should wear helmets, and don’t try to break speed records on marked roadways. Weaving in and out of traffic and between cars in their proper lane is suicidal like trying to pass on the right. Sometimes I wonder if many of the younger bikers on their rice burner crotch rockets just have a death wish. The older 70’s type (There are many down here) usually are just cruisin and encounter the drivers with the cell phone to their ears or in their hands, or just one of the 80+yr. invisible drivers making a left turn from the opposite lane. (My guess is that the LT cases cause most of the injuries.) I’m not an actuary, but I did spent many years settling cases for the Gecko.
I think we should invoke that more often.
Have friend in the mess in Syria. One I communicate with often. At the end of every day I invoke that type of statement. It is not awkward for me to do that.
Thanks for that perspective. It matches my experiences. I owned a motor cycle once. I was in my 40’s when I bought it.
Was a GS450-S Suzuki, cafe racer type. Really fun. Pretty nimble too.
Probably will never own another.
Yes. Agree with all you said. Thanks.
I traveled for a living for 30+ years. I’ve mad my share of mistakes. Driven literally 2 million road mines. Outside sales and management.
I never had an accident over that entire time. Except I ran over a wild hog and ruined the vehicle. It crushed the radiator and engine got hot and warped heads until unrepairable.
That was driving late at night on my way home from a week long trip. Happened so fast it was impossible to avoid. Hog ran right across road in front of me. Was not sure what it was at first.
Yes, play on words.
The title implies the motorcyclist was at fault. Apparently not the article itself.
It is sad so many article titles are not more clear. We see it very often in the news.
I don't now, but have, quite a bit, and will probably do so again. The experience was a big aid to becoming a defensive drive. I've had close calls while piloting a bicycle too. Drivers are blind to many things - we are all inattentive at times, sometimes at important times.
-- Anytime a driver turns in front of traffic and a collision occurs, that driver is not blameless either. --
I agree. There are times when you must put your vehicle where it doesn't ordinarily belong, left turns and passing being a couple common examples. If you can't see your way clear, just wait. At the same time, driving way too fast is risky. few drivers have the skill or experience to notice "way too fast" vehicles as such, and we routinely use distance as a good enough approximation for time.
-- I understand the point of the thread is Christian forgiveness, and will leave it at that. --
Yes, that, plus the hidden hand of "fate," or the way I see it, God's hand in our lives.
As both a biker and the widow of one, this story touched me deeply.
I have never ridden, but it isn’t hard to imagine the danger inherent in it nowadays, with people on their cell phones and such.
My boss had a new, customized, and very expensive Harley that he simply couldn’t bring himself to ride anymore. He said it was too stressful, so he gave it his nephew! (nice gift!)
My rules of thumb were "drivers mostly don't see you," and "the ones who do see you, will try to hit you."
I spend nearly as much time in the rear view mirror as I did on the road ahead of me, NO intersection is clear without being checked, a car is ready to pull out of every street and driveway, and always have a plan to safely exit the roadway, dump the bike, go in a ditch, avoid stationary objects. Yep, stressful to say the least. And don't get me going on road conditions!
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