Rector's Reflection—13 Pentecost, Proper 16
August 22, 2010

A young Jackson woman lost her life this past week in a car wreck, and her only participation in the wreck was that she happened to be driving home from work. On any other day, she would have been in the right place at the right time. She was on a side street, low speed limit. Clear day, still daylight. She may have been thinking about lesson plans for her new children at MRA. "You can't start them on computers too early," she may have thought. She lived with her parents, their only child. I have no way of knowing what the circumstances were. Was she caring for her parents, or was it just a good arrangement for all concerned?

I have witnessed bad car wrecks. I have ministered to people whose loved ones have been killed in car wrecks. I read about tragic accidents every day of the week. Somewhere, someone is driving way too fast and paying way too little attention, ending up with horrible, horrible results. This one, however, was different. Leigh Anne Ward had taught our granddaughter Tomlyn last year and she was Emme's new Sunday School teacher. Now she won't be sharing her passion for education with children any more, and the venue for her Sunday School class is now in the presence of Our Lord. And all because one young man made a fatal, stupid error in judgment.

I can't get Leigh Anne out of my mind. I didn't know her, but she knew the girls, so by extension... What's the thing about Kevin Bacon and 6 degrees of separation? My mind at first was spinning with thoughts about the choices people make and the consequences that ensue. Choice A takes you on a different path from choice B or C. Rarely are you granted do-overs. I'm now reflecting on the ephemeral nature of one's existence. You can be here right now and, rounding a curve some seconds later, be gone. I am not a pre-destination or an "It's God will" believer. While I, to the core of my being, believe that God redeems all things (yes, I said it yet again!), sometimes stuff—really awful stuff—happens, and you have to process that first.

I can't help thinking about our recent Gospel readings, especially the one in Luke where Jesus says, "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet... If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves... You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

We speak a lot about being prepared for Christ's glorious return. The Rite 1 Eucharistic prayer commends participation in the sacrament "until his coming again." Advent is all about preparing. John the Baptist is all about preparing. But being prepared is a two-way street. We have no guarantees that we will have tomorrows... or even this afternoon. Leigh Anne Ward's untimely death is a grim reminder that there won't always be a chance to say "I love you" or "I'm sorry" or "I forgive you" or even just "Good-bye."

Accident investigators think Leigh Anne died instantly. If she had any time to process what was about to happen, it had to have been just nano-seconds. Suppose you were given the luxury of knowing you had sixty seconds to live. If you knew that, what would you want to say to the person sitting next to you... or to the family member who lives far off... or to a dear friend... or to someone who shaped your life?

Of course we can't live in a chronic paranoid state; life goes on. It must. But just like you don't get a second chance to make a first impression, none of us may have the chance to say words that have, to date, gone unspoken. Unspoken words can become never spoken words... and what a tragedy that would be.

Susan+