Awakening

Sometimes we have no idea when the sun rises what the day is going to bring. Very often we get caught up in the moment, and before we know it, something tragic happens. Then we are left with questions, regrets, and even possibly some guilt.

Today was in some ways like that for me. I did my best to squeeze every minute I could out of my bed before launching out the door to work. I was feeling pretty good about myself and looking forward to the weekend. Then I pulled into my first client call of the day. There were police everywhere. There were multiple fire trucks and rescue vehicles. My first thought was there was a shooting or a fire. But shortly after getting out of my vehicle an ambulance went past me escorted by a couple of police cars. Someone had been injured.

Shortly, one of the guys I deal with walked up and told me a loader had fallen on one of the workers. They didnt know how or why it happened. But evidently some of his co-workers had to help get the loader (a huge piece of construction equipment) up so the rescue could get him out from under it. Everyone was visibly shaken. It was an unbelievable site. At the time I didnt even ask who it was. It seemed silly because I had only been coming there for a few months and really didn’t know but a couple of the guys. What I did do though was to let my contact know that I would have the victim and his family in my prayers and tried to offer him some comfort.

Before leaving I saw a secretary standing at the door in tears. I went to her and shook her hand. Then I told her that I would have the victim and his family in my prayers, as well as the others like herself that worked there. As I walked to my truck I felt helpless and void. I prayed again for this man. I knew that I could not pray for his salvation, but only that at some point he had accepted Jesus as his saviour. Once again I felt hollow.

Word of the accident had already reached my next stop. Some of the guys knew the injured man. Turned out so did I. It was “Barefoot Ronnie”, a name given by his co-workers because of his backwoods ways.

I knew Ronnie as a guy who had a ’65 Mustang he had been building for 15 years to drag race and never got it on the track. I met him while making a sales call and overheard him talking about his race car. He boasted about all the work he had put into it and how close he was to getting it out on the race track. Ronnie showed me pictures and shared his dream of one day burning through the 1/4 mile. That dream ended today. Ronnie died.

As I made my rounds, people everywhere, whether they knew Ronnie or not, had heard about the accident. Many reflected on how short life is and how quickly it can end. Without going into full gospel mode I shared as best I could that we all need to be ready when that day comes. It was “my” comfort today. I know that when that time comes I am ready. It is probably the one thing I am most sure of.

I don’t know if Ronnie was a Christian. If I had to bet I would say he wasn’t. I only met him a couple of times, but he left an impression on me. Could I have done more to try to convert Ronnie? Probably not. God is usually the one that does the moving. All we can do is to be the vessel should he choose to use us. The truth is, Ronnie was probably doing more to bring people closer to God in his death than many of us do in life. Something to think about when you wake up in the morning.

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