In an Instant

               My days tend to fly by in a flurry of activity related to my family responsibilities, work, volunteer obligations and recreation. These summer days and weeks seem to run into each other, passing quickly.  Sometimes, something happens that distinguishes a particular day, or hour or instant from the others.

               Last week a friend of a friend’s family experienced tragedy.  A young man, recently graduated from college, was killed in a traffic accident. In an instant, a family was changed.  Death became a reality to his parents, siblings, girlfriend and friends. 

               Also last week, my teenage son was traveling in Italy when he and four companions were approached by a friendly young man.  “Want some?” he said as he opened his hand to show a bag of cocaine.  My son and his friends declined and walked away. This reaction is what I would expect from my son, but how could his life been changed in that instant?

               The tsunami in Thailand and last summer’s deracho in Washington D.C. are also times when lives were changed in an instant.  Without warning, a weather incident caused damage, injury and loss of time.

               I have especially been thinking about a specific instant in my life which occurred nearly five years ago.  The Pastor of our parish had invited himself over for desert.  As he was leaving, I stepped out on our porch to say a final goodbye.  He walked down our stairs, paused and turned around.  When I looked in his eyes, I knew he had something important to say. 

               “I just want to bring more people to Jesus,” were the words that tumbled out of his lips.  Those words broke through the wall that I had built between God and myself.  In an instant, my life was changed, irrevocably.  The past five years have been the most joy-filled, peaceful of my life. 

               So in these days, so filled with activity, I attempt to find some time to take a deep breath and enjoy my family and friends. Finding time to say thanks to God for all the good he has given me is important, because we never know how our lives can be changed, in an instant.