Two Seconds to Live 

   I was passing on a hill.

   Thanksgiving Day, 1957. After a brief vacation from school, I headed back into Ohio to pick up a buddy and continue west for a friend’s wedding. I was one angry 18-year-old.

   Our team had a great season. I watched them clinch the Big Ten championship.

   Next, the Rose Bowl! Four of us including roommate Ed planned on driving to LA. Dad wouldn’t have it. Hey, this is why I went to college isn’t it? Or at least, this college! 

   Read my mind as I turned south from Ravenna on Rt. 62. I knew this road very well from family visits. There is a short stretch where the road dips, followed by a hill, another dip and another hill.

   Still fuming, I passed a pokey car while climbing the first hill. Yep. Climbing the same hill from the other direction was an unsuspecting driver about to meet a stupid teenager. Guessing that each of us was doing 45 mph, that adds up to 90 mph of trouble. There would be no Gretchen or Glenn, no Kyle, Callie, Liddy or baby William. 

   I slammed on the brakes with two seconds to live. The other car disappeared. I wound up off the road facing north. The other driver came back – he could have cussed me out royally – saying, “You’d better sit it out awhile.” Apparently, my face was ghost white.

   Sometimes I wonder if an angel saved my life and his that day. How could he get off the narrow road with a narrow berm that quickly? How did the driver I was passing escape?

   Young or old, we are not always aware. What we intend to do or say could wreck a relationship or our witness. We may harbor anger or unforgiveness or any number of unholy attitudes. When we least expect it - I looked and thought the coast was clear -  our enemy sneaks over the hill.  

    Not that I deserved it, but Dad came up with scarce money for me to ride the student train from drab Columbus to sunny Los Angeles for five days, 11 in all. The Rose Parade was far more entertaining than the game, and we visited the Grand Canyon on the way back.

Psalm 91:11 – For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.  

     Jimmy