Wondering about my Wanderings

Now What!?

August 1, 2013

Life is filled with a multitude of now whats. Just when we think we have heard the last one there comes another. One of my favorite is the perception of Jesus, deliverer crucified on the cross Now What? Last night was a very restless night as I kept turning over in my head what happened in the car accident yesterday. One thing became abundantly clear. There will be forever be more than one way to perceive any one situation. There are divorces, sicknesses, infidelity, job loss, grief, the win or loss of a crucial game. The list goes on and on. I am reminded of a scripture in Romasns 8 that says nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. There follows quite a long list of things and many things are added.

I believe the will forever be the need to get on with one's life. Whatever happens after the crisis or trauma says a lot about where you are in relationship to self and other. As I replayed what happened in my mind at the accident scene I was struck at how many ways any one situation can be looked at. I had just stopped at an intersection and went toward the gas station which was on my left hand side. I had my directional light on. I looked and saw nothing but buses and ever so slowly moved toward the gas pumps and along comes a teenager who was going around two buses in a thirty mile per hour zone. He saw me getting ready to turn and most obviously thought to himself that I would stay where I was until I went by. I had already looked and committed myself to turning in to the gas station. His story with dad by his side relayed that he was clearly cut off. I had failed to yield and the police officer went to me and shared his own perception corroborating what the young man said. After talking to the young man he decided that I needed to have spent more time seeing if the car was there before turning in.

With all this in mind the police officer did me a favor. He did not give me a ticket though he said that he would give me one in the mail. I talked about just sending the money and being done with it. The police officer looked me in the eye and said; "don't do it." You have the option of going to court and if he does not show up at court you will not have to pay the ticket. It all comes down to how the young man and I share the story. And yes there was a witness who saw everything and his account was more supportive of what I had said even though the police officer at that point did not agree. The police officer did not see what happened at all, so that he could not be a witness. Now What!? I am not a decisive person. My gut says that I will go and see what happens. I have the right to say I am innocent and let them prove that I was in the wrong. The most important factor to me is the teenager. What will he learn from what took place. Will he decide he did nothing at all wrong and be off on another adventure. Or will he see that he could have done something different even if he sees that the other person may have messed up. What will this young man learn about what it means to be a man. I guess we will just have to wait and see.