I passed an accident scene yesterday on my way home that really got to me.  I don’t normally slow down for accident scenes, I don’t consider myself a rubbernecker (mostly because it annoys the hell out of me) but this scene was odd.  It was a small car, looked very new, with the entire front end smashed in.  The driver seemed to be trying to back up but this car wasn’t going anywhere.  There was no other damaged car to be seen. There was no tree or wall and nothing had fallen from the sky.  There was, however, someone in a Jeep protecting the car from being hit again as it was in a precarious spot.

But the driver was screaming, screaming from her soul.  It was that type of gut wrenching scream that didn’t denote injury; but rather a desperate plea to something bigger than all of us.  What you might expect from someone who’d had horrific news or lost a child.  It was animal like and stayed with me all night.  You knew by the sound that the woman’s life was changed in that moment.

I witnessed something like that a few years ago.  Same kind of you-know-that-person’s-life-just-changed moment.  I was at a light on my way to work and heard that God awful sound of metal buckling.  There is nothing like that sound and for a moment I thought it was me the sound was so close.  The car next to me had been hit from behind.  It was an older model Honda hit by a much bigger Mercedes.  The woman inside the Honda just deflated before my eyes.  We made eye contact for the briefest moment and I could see that she was physically ok but she knew her life had just changed in that moment.

I could pretend to know the story behind each of these incidents, elaborate on their circumstances.  But honestly how could I, or anyone for that matter, ever know for sure what each of these women was up against.  Doesn’t mean I could get either of them out of my head.  I wonder about things like this all the time.  I wonder what will happen to people and how they will cope with their defining moments.

It can always go either way.  You can look at these kinds of things as great misfortune or you can look for the silver lining.  Ok not at that very moment but many times the most wonderful things come out of what seems like the darkest of situations.  My friend Sandra is a perfect example of a happy ending from a misadventure.

Either way my prayer for these women and anyone else I see up against a defining moment:

Dear God please give this person whatever they need.  Don’t listen to what they want because you know (like you know) much better than them.  Please give it to them quickly and help them see the lesson in this moment so that they can define their lives with love not hate and resentment. Amen.

There I prayed for them again.  I feel much better now.