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<\/p>\nJust days before, the black sedan\u2019s pristine finish glistened in the sunshine. Now, what was left of it was a reminder of how blessed I had been to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t your time,\u201d was Nate\u2019s simple theology.<\/p>\n
His statement reminded me of something German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote in his Letters and Papers from Prison,<\/em> \u201cWe all have our appointed hour of death, and it will always find us wherever we go. And we must be ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who refused to sit idly by as Adolph Hitler killed millions of Jewish citizens during World War II. Instead the German leader joined a movement to have Hitler assassinated, resulting in his 1943 imprisonment. Bonhoeffer\u2019s own appointed hour of death occurred in 1945, when at only 39 years of age he was hanged at the Flossenburg concentration camp.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anyway, I\u2019m not comparing my car accident to the slain scholar\u2019s situation, because I felt blessed to be alive that afternoon as I said good-bye to the wrecked vehicle. After all, a few days earlier while driving in heavy four-lane traffic I glanced in my rear-view mirror and saw a car rapidly approaching. My frantic mind quickly realized that there was nothing I could do. Suddenly, I heard the sickening sound of crunching metal and felt the forceful impact that propelled me forward quite a distance.<\/p>\n Miraculously, there was no vehicle directly ahead, nor had I been pushed into an adjoining lane. Momentarily dazed, I gratefully assessed that my injuries were non-life-threatening, although they would require a trip to the hospital. The young man whose vehicle\u2019s front end had connected with my demolished back end assured me that he was ok, too. \u201cWe can always get a new car, but we can\u2019t replace precious people,\u201d was the philosophy I inherited from my late mother.<\/p>\n Thankfully, I knew my husband agreed with my practical view of totaled automobiles, since I just \u201chappened\u201d to borrow his car that day. Providentially, Larry\u2019s vehicle \u201cwas\u201d proven to prevent injuries in crash tests. It lived up to its promise, even though it resembled a folded accordion after the wreck.<\/p>\n I also placed an antique picture of Jesus standing behind a sailor who is navigating a ship\u2019s wooden wheel behind the driver\u2019s seat that day. The portrait depicts the Jewish carpenter with one hand lovingly resting on the young seamen\u2019s shoulder and the other arm extended, pointing him in the direction he needs to go amidst the turbulent seas.<\/p>\n My plan was to drop the inspirational artwork off at a friend’s office, since he was encountering some rough seas. When cleaning the car out at the body shop, I found the glass and wooden framed picture undamaged just as Nate was sharing his wise advice about it not being my time. The borrowed car, the angel pin, and the antique picture are all reminders of my own belief that God is always in control, even when life seems randomly chaotic. However, my greatest blessing was the fact that apparently it wasn\u2019t my \u201cappointed hour of death\u201d as Bonhoeffer once wrote. Because someday, death \u201cwill find me,\u201d just as it finds us all, since nobody gets out of here alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n And death can be cruelly unfair. I was reminded of this heartbreaking reality a mere ten days ago. My own family lost a beloved member in the prime of her life after she fought a long and courageous battle. Due to privacy, I won’t share any details. But I will say, I’m sure those who love her would have willingly given up some years of their own time if they could have. But it doesn’t work like that, only God has the power to control time.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For all the folks remaining on this Earth, perhaps some will appreciate the wisdom in the song lyrics of the former 2008 hit, It\u2019s Not My Time <\/em><\/a>by 3 Doors Down.\u00a0 As the lead singer, Brad Arnold, not only sang this song, but he’s one of the band’s members who wrote it.\u00a0<\/p>\n The lyrics say, \u201cMy friend, this life we live is not what we have, it\u2019s what we believe. And it\u2019s not my time. I\u2019m not going \u2026.\u201d Hopefully, you and I, along with Brad Arnold, are not going anywhere, anytime soon. \u00a0For now, we\u2019ve all been granted the priceless opportunity for one more day with those we love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you want to join in praying for Brad Arnold, maybe use the hashtag #prayforBradArnold\u00a0 Continue reading ![\"photo](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/photo-2-e1422287644773-150x200.jpg\")
There were several other remarkable occurrences surrounding the event. When dressing the morning of the accident, my treasured angel pin, a gift from late Jewish Holocaust survivor, Elisabeth Sondheimer, seemed to sparkle warningly as it fell to my bedroom floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Jesus](\"http:\/\/christinaryanclaypool.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/photo-6-e1422287466506-225x300.jpg\")
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Christina Ryan Claypool is an inspirational speaker, frequent Chicken Soup for the Soul book contributor, and author of the inspiring book club read, “Secrets of the Pastor’s Wife: A Novel”<\/a>. Learn more at her website:<\/em> www.christinaryanclaypool.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n