Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
There was a traffic pileup near an intersection this afternoon that aggravated a lot of people. There was no car accident and no easily discernable reason why the car was blocking traffic. The passenger door and driver’s door were both open, and the passenger was crouched inside the driver’s side door, talking on a cell phone and talking to the driver. People drove by – some honked their horns, flipped the bird, and gunned their engines angrily. Others rolled down their windows to ask if help was needed. They were all ignored or waved on. A few bystanders gathered. One brought some paper towels so the passenger could wipe the blood from the driver’s mouth. Soon paramedics arrived and loaded the petite, pale driver into the ambulance. The passenger moved the car to the curb – parked it illegally – and got into the ambulance. And they were gone. The traffic cleared and the bystanders wandered off. The excitement – whatever it was – was over and everyone returned to their lives. Move along, citizens… nothing to see here.
So what happened? I know the rest of the story, because I was the passenger. The driver – one of my best friends, who previously enjoyed excellent health and passed a physical with flying colors about six weeks ago – had a seizure. Further tests have revealed a mass in her brain. There will be more tests over the next few days to learn how best to deal with this. And I’m hoping – praying – that it will turn out to be nothing much to worry about.
But even if it is (please, God!) the truth is that something equally unexpected could happen to any one of us at any minute. It’s sobering. It’s a reminder that we have no guarantees – not for tomorrow, not for our next breath.
A mist, or in some translations, a vapor. Mysteriously generated and easily dispersed. That’s all we are.
Added: just got some positive news, though not fully confirmed - large, but benign, and operable. Thank God…
