Today is Day 39, and we're in the home stretch of
this fall's 40 Days for Life effort.
Amazing things are still unfolding all across North
America and many people are looking to keep the
momentum building beyond the end of this campaign
(See the press release we sent out yesterday at:
http://snipurl.com/4w8j5 )
I had a daily e-mail message planned for you today
until something happened a few hours ago that changed
all of that...
...I watched in shock as a 16-year-old boy was hit by
a car just a few yards in front of me.
Here's what happened...
All day, our family had been visiting 40 Days for
Life locations along Florida's Atlantic coast. In the
evening we finally rolled into West Palm Beach to
spend the night before heading out to visit more
vigil sites in the morning.
A sweet local family had invited us to their house.
While driving over to meet them, we stopped at a red
light at a busy intersection.
As we sat there in the dark, a boy shot past us on
his bicycle and rolled right out into the traffic in
the middle of the busy street.
Before I knew what was happening, an SUV going 40
miles an hour plowed into the young man, sending him
and his bike flying through the air before they
crashed to the pavement.
The driver slammed on his brakes and narrowly missed
running over the boy.
I jumped out of our rental car (as Margaret, Claire,
and Patrick began to pray) and was the first one to
the boy's side. Within 30 seconds, nearly a dozen
other people had stopped to help.
The boy was injured, but thankfully not in a
life-threatening way. He had cuts and scrapes all
over, and his leg was in severe pain -- probably
broken.
He told me that his bike's brakes had failed.
The police and paramedics arrived quickly and were
able to rush him to a nearby hospital to begin
treatment and healing.
Having seen the accident from about ten yards away, I
can tell you it is a miracle he is alive.
While driving away from the accident scene, Margaret
and I were reflecting on what we had just witnessed,
and came to two realizations...
*****************************************************
1.) WHEN ANOTHER PERSON'S LIFE IS AT RISK, HONORABLE
PEOPLE STOP EVERYTHING ELSE AND TRY TO HELP.
*****************************************************
I was impressed by how many people stopped to assist,
and by the response of the police and paramedics.
Nobody was worried about being late to where they
were going. Nobody was thinking about how their stock
portfolio was doing. Nobody was concerned about what
church anyone else attended. Nobody was worried about
each other's political affiliations.
When another person was at risk, people set aside
everything else to help save a life.
*****************************************************
2.) WE WERE REMINDED OF JUST HOW FRAGILE -- AND
PRECIOUS -- EVERY HUMAN LIFE IS.
*****************************************************
In what seemed like a millisecond, this boy went from
happily riding down the road to lying bleeding and in
pain on the pavement next to the twisted remains of
his bicycle in the middle of a busy intersection.
He certainly didn't expect that to happen to him.
In the same way, none of us knows exactly how much
time we have left on this earth and, as a result, we
need to make the most of every single moment.
These two realizations made us immediately think of
YOU, John, and the tens of thousands of other
faithful believers participating in 40 Days for Life
all across North America.
When the lives of innocent, pre-born children have
been at risk of death, and women have been at risk of
devastation from abortion, you stopped to help by
participating in 40 Days for Life.
And your heroic efforts to "speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves" demonstrate that you ARE
making the most of every moment and showing the world
how precious and sacred every human life really is.
Let's pray for the swift healing of the young boy who
was hit by a car, and let's press forward together in
our efforts to protect every human life.
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