Today, I witnessed a fatal motorcycle accident. Two bikers passed me and a bunch of other cars and attempted to pass in front of the semi that was leading the pack. They managed to speed past him, but a sharp bend in the road came next. One biker made the turn. The other's bike overturned during the turn, leaving him to slide into the guardrail. He was dead at the scene.
How quickly life can end! How suddenly! One minute, that man was blazing along on his motorcycle, rushing past cars, heading for the freeway--so full of life! The next, he lay dead with his buddy doing the sign of the cross over him. Life is like a vapor. If this is the life we live, so fragile, so easily taken away, we should value it, each moment. We should never miss an opportunity to show love for another or receive love ourselves, for every opportunity could be our last.
And what God do we envision ruling over this world, where life is so short? Where one biker makes it and the other doesn't? Where the simple laws of physics can be so brutally unforgiving? If we imagine a god who is so omnibenevolent that he wouldn't hurt a fly, we must confess he is a god very much powerless in our world. If we imagine a cruel, heartless god, we must confess he has some stroke of madness, for the other biker lived, unharmed, as did all the other motorists in that line of cars and trucks. God is neither cruel nor kind. He is good. He cares, and he will be with the family and friends as they grieve. Yet He also judges. None of us are innocent, not the biker who died, not the one who lived, not even the people in their cars. Judgment comes for us suddenly, and it can be as unforgiving as physics. When Jesus heard of the Jews on whom a tower had collapsed, He did not mourn such a horrible accident. He did not mock and laugh. He warned: "Do you suppose those men were worse sinners than yourselves? No, and if you don't repent, you will also perish" (Luke 13:4-5, paraphrased). He cared enough to warn us, to ask us to repent, but He is stern enough to carry out justice without remorse if we refuse. He is a God both fearsome and gentle, loving and terrifying.
How quickly life can end! How suddenly! One minute, that man was blazing along on his motorcycle, rushing past cars, heading for the freeway--so full of life! The next, he lay dead with his buddy doing the sign of the cross over him. Life is like a vapor. If this is the life we live, so fragile, so easily taken away, we should value it, each moment. We should never miss an opportunity to show love for another or receive love ourselves, for every opportunity could be our last.
And what God do we envision ruling over this world, where life is so short? Where one biker makes it and the other doesn't? Where the simple laws of physics can be so brutally unforgiving? If we imagine a god who is so omnibenevolent that he wouldn't hurt a fly, we must confess he is a god very much powerless in our world. If we imagine a cruel, heartless god, we must confess he has some stroke of madness, for the other biker lived, unharmed, as did all the other motorists in that line of cars and trucks. God is neither cruel nor kind. He is good. He cares, and he will be with the family and friends as they grieve. Yet He also judges. None of us are innocent, not the biker who died, not the one who lived, not even the people in their cars. Judgment comes for us suddenly, and it can be as unforgiving as physics. When Jesus heard of the Jews on whom a tower had collapsed, He did not mourn such a horrible accident. He did not mock and laugh. He warned: "Do you suppose those men were worse sinners than yourselves? No, and if you don't repent, you will also perish" (Luke 13:4-5, paraphrased). He cared enough to warn us, to ask us to repent, but He is stern enough to carry out justice without remorse if we refuse. He is a God both fearsome and gentle, loving and terrifying.
Wow - intense. I had to deal with patients dying at Denver Health, so yes it is eye opening. Very insightful and Biblical thoughts, bro.
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