March
2, 2019
It
was a Saturday morning on Route 80, west of Walcott, Wyoming. Due to
a snowstorm across the southern part of the state, Friday leaked into
Saturday for the Trucker and his Passenger, to the tune of 2:30AM
before it ended in a peaceful lot at Walcott, insulated by the
falling snow.
Now
9:30AM, they were on the road again. Wintry precipitation, a misty
mix of rain and snow, was still falling. Route 80 westbound was
mostly snow covered, though not a deep snowpack. Slick, the WYDOT
website warned, and electronic billboards flashed cautions and speed
limits of 45mph. Visibility was occasional.
More
traffic on the road than the night before, and mostly trucks. The
Trucker drove cautiously, passed carefully when necessary, and in
general created as much elbow room for the truck as possible.
Knowing exactly what his truck would do in every situation and what
he himself was capable of, did not guarantee that other drivers on
the road could say the same.
West
of Green River, on the eastbound side, traffic was stopped behind a
tractor trailer, which had recently slid onto the median, the mangled
tractor twisted round to point backwards along the trailer,
resembling a bird whose neck had been wrung. Emergency vehicles were
gathered round, lights flashing. A tow truck was in readiness.
Though
some traffic, intercepted far enough back, has been detoured onto the
frontage road to continue eastward, the rest bottlenecked behind the
wreck. Approximately a half mile back, another rig, unable to stop
in time, had spun completely around to face west again, separating
from its tractor. Again emergency vehicles gathered around, and a
large tow truck was working to clear the disabled truck away.
As
the Trucker and his Passenger proceeded carefully westbound,
vehicles in the opposing lanes continued to flow eastward, only to
dam up behind the wrecks. And inevitably, twice more had trucks who
in their attempt to stop, slid into the vehicles already stopped.
One sideways into another, ending up across both lanes, another
having steered into the median to avoid a collision. Finally, a
whole rig, still connected, had plowed off the right eastbound lane
into deep snow, and appeared to have been temporarily abandoned.
The
Passenger’s heart went out to all those whose lives had been
disrupted. Schedules in disarray, insurance arrangements and repairs
to make, jobs to worry about. None of these mishaps would have
occurred were it not for the snow storm creating slippery roads and
compromised visibility.
But
when her eyes lifted away from the confusion below to the gently
falling snow above, a whole new perspective appeared. Drifting
earthward, feather softly coating everything in its path, the snow
was startling in its whiteness. Clinging to crack and crevice in the
mountain rocks, frosting all the evergreen trees and dried
tumbleweeds. Concealing the road’s grime and creating bushy
eyebrows on every truck visor. Danger created by roads without
traction seemed a small price to pay for such beauty.
It
occurred to her, this is not unlike life. The path we travel – we
think we know the way, know how the road will twist and turn, think
we can anticipate every potential pitfall. When people or
situations appear, showing us attractive options, we are tempted to take them in
stride and follow them along the path, without knowing where we are being led.
True
discernment is needed. Some help us along the way, but some merely
remove our traction, then step back and allow us to self destruct.
When we place our trust in other people, we cannot always maintain a
clear perspective of who they are and what the future holds.
One
of the sayings we repeated frequently to our children, “What you do
will affect everyone around you, and everyone around them as well.”
As with those trucks, when they crashed, the lives of many others
were changed as well. Some were injured and needed help to move
forward, time to heal. Others were delayed, potentially lost jobs.
As a rule, what was damaged would never again be the same.
Where
does this discernment come from?
If
any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally,
and in him is no shadow of turning, James 1:5
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