Skipped Heart Beat

Driving into work this morning, my eyes caught the flashing blue and red lights in my rear view mirror, and I felt my heart skip a beat or two.  The funny thing, the lights were moving in the opposite direction I was moving.  It appears that the police car drove right past me, flipped his lights on after he passed me, and I never noticed that he passed me, and wouldn't have, unless he had turned his lights on.

Resembles life, huh.  Ever noticed yourself just cruising along in life, not taking notice of what is around you, ignoring life as it moves on. Ever notice yourself losing interest in hobbies, events, and even people, slowly sliding into survival, letting go of living, your heart never missing a beat anymore, not feeling the love and excitement of life, liberty, relationships, and even God.

The thing is, the slide is long, slow, and steady, at such a pace that we don't realize we're no long living life until the changes around us are so huge that we no long feel anything really matters. We lose the center of our souls and convince ourselves that we are powerless, it doesn't matter, just let it all go by as looking out a side window of car driving 80 miles an hour, just a blur, out of focus, too dangerous to jump out. Then something happens, that I belief is a thumb from God, that rattles our soul and we become aware again, seeing life and all around us.

To me, today is just that day.  It seems like I've been in cruise control, watching the changes in my country and my world shift reality into something I don't always recognize, appreciate, or value.  I've gotten discouraged by the government, our President, the media and the hate speech of others. And as I stare out the window of 80 miles an hour speed, much gets blurred and insignificant.  Like the flashing lights in by rear view mirror, today, 9/11, causes my heart to skip a beat.  The sight of hundreds of thousands of motorcycles heading to D.C., the scenes of people and organizations who still hold onto the foundations of our country, give me hope.  In this heart beat moment, I will choose to continue to remember the greatness of our foundation.  I will be grateful to my God for the heart skip He struck in my chest today. 

Let us all pray for our country, for her people, and for the end of her fall.  Let's all remember who we are in God and God alone, and stop looking out the side window.

(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)