Like Sand Seeping Between the Fingers of Mortality

March 10, 2008

It only takes a second to change our lives forever. The first time we lay eyes on the person we know that we are to spend eternity with, the ah-ha moment when we suddenly know why we are in this world and what we are to do about it or the instant we realize that our parents aren’t the two dumbest, most backward people on the planet. These are just a few of life’s moments that change the direction of our minds, thoughts and even physical appearances.
But there is a different change that has come to my attention in the last little while. It is the moment that you face death, square in the face and then live to tell about it. There is surrealism about knowing that at any given moment we might depart from this world to confront what lies on the other side of the veil of life and death. Yes, I think that I will be ready to meet my Maker when the moment does come, but, like most of us, I believe that moment will be a few more miles down the road. Unfortunately for many folks the last walk is nearly over.
Over the course of the last few months the lives of one of my sons and two friends were held in the hands of fate, slipping fast like sand seeping between the fingers of mortality to the world beyond. In both cases the culprit was an automobile accident, none of which was there fault or in their control.
Life has changed for them. Their well of thoughts seem to surge deeper into the realm of spiritual things, lingering longer to ponder the true meaning of life, relationships, goals and why their lives were spared. I don’t pretend to know the answers. I don’t have a clue why such things happen to some and others are saved from the experiences. I only know that when the sands of my life begin to slip through the bony fingers of mortality the arms of heaven are waiting to scoop me up and take me home again.