I was driving down the highway through a small town today, 35-40 mph, and a car coming in the opposite direction suddenly did a left turn in front of me with no warning.
At first I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought, “This can’t be happening.” But it was happening, and no matter how much I swerved to the right, the other car was determined to turn left and there was no avoiding him. We crashed. Airbags inflated. Seatbelts locked. Liquid spewed on the ground, smoke and offensive odors filled our cabin.
The other driver has admitted full responsibility for the accident, saying he did not see me, and claims his insurance will cover all expenses. I expect no troubles in settling with him.
Nonetheless, it took me a while to recover from the accident happening in the first place. I had done nothing wrong. I had broken no laws. I was driving safely and responsibly, yet a horrible crash still occurred. His car looked totaled and mine may well be too.
Gratefully, all people involved are fine. My son and I were totally unscathed. The driver’s wife was taken to the hospital for minor care, but is comfortably home this evening. It seemed a miracle considering the force of impact and direction of hit.
Again, how could I be involved in such a horrible event when I did nothing wrong?
In searching for a spiritual lesson to learn from the experience, I decided it’s absolutely essential to actively pray for the safety and wisdom of every driver on the highway. Praying for one’s own driving is not good enough.
When uniting with others in a common activity, liking cruising down a road full of cars, we are dwelling in a common mental venue. To a degree, what one participant thinks, or doesn’t think, affects what other participants in the same venue experience. We cannot be naïve about other people’s states of thought in our common mental venues. We must pray for everyone’s protection and safety to be safe ourselves. God’s love is all-inclusive, and our prayers, to be answered, must be all-inclusive.
I have frequently prayed for all drivers on the road, but after today, I can see I need to pray more.
My family and I prayed together tonight and thanked God for all four people involved in the accident being alive and well. And we committed ourselves to praying regularly for all other drivers on the road as much as we pray for our own safe and wise driving,–which is a considerable amount of time spent, by the way…
When everyone in the world is praying as much for others as they pray for themselves, oh, what a wonderful world it will be! And the highways will be safer too.
Evan, This has helped me greatly. In just the past month, I have had two very minor accidents in my car, where individuals backed into by car — and in both cases the driver said, “I didn’t see you.” This phrase, as you also experienced it, is a fundamental error that I believe needs handling — that Christian Science, and Christian Scientists, and the law of God, and the Christ teaching “can’t be seen.” And really, this is mortal mind’s attempt to prove it true — that the remarkable healing and good and love and reconciliation that students of CS and the teachings of CS bring about — can be eliminated from view. THIS CAN NOT HAPPEN. And I am grateful for your sharing of this experience.
One of the things that I love about reading your blog, Evan, is that it reaches out to everyone, not just those who study Christian Science. We all live in diverse communities with many religions where healing is found and the truth you state brings everyone together for a common good. I am so grateful for your work and the way you embrace EVERYONE and work from a standpoint of inclusion to all of God’s children rather than a viewpoint of separation or boundaries. What you state and know here is a truth that everyone can grasp, know and work with effectively regardless of the church they attend. I’m so grateful because where I live (and probably most of us live), the reality is that most of the populations we are in are not CS. Truth goes beyond our limited human concepts and frees us.
Susan, thanks for your comments. I’d never realized how prevalent the claim “I couldn’t see you,” is, but you are right. I’ve heard it many times before. It’s a major cover-up for error to justify less than diligent effort to ensure all important factors have been taken into consideration before an action is taken. Mind is all-seeing, and we each reflect this all-seeing Mind.
Cindy, I appreciate what you’re saying. Yes, CS is a universal Truth that speaks to everyone. It’s like music. Most everyone can relate to music in some way. Likewise, with CS, when understood in it’s proper light, it’s universally recognizable and welcomed too.
Evan,
Thanks for this daily blog. The subjects cover all the different things going on in our human lives each day. This one has given me an extra sense of the importance of praying daily for ourselves and our world. I have had a little incident with a car in the last month as well. One where I was the one who seemed to be inattentive. Knowing that Mind is always aware of what we see as our surroundings because all is really included in Mind, has been really helpful to me. Inattention is not a part of Mind and therefore not a part of my thinking.
great reasoning, Evan, and I love the life lesson here….
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Laura
We are, as you say, all in the same venue of mind, and it has come to me recently to actively pray for harmony and safety to be part of every driver’s experience.
The California Highway Patrol has a website where you can check the incidents in your area. I have been using it to check the traffic before I head out on my commute home each night. Lately there have been more serious injuries and fatalities listed; often involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists. As a motorcyclist I knew I needed to actively work for my own protection and everyone on the road.
I immediately thought about all the demonstrations of harmony that are all around us. From the massive harmony of the universe to the appearant chaos of an ant hill that is one of the most harmonious, ordered microcosms, there are countless demonstrations of God’s order in our daily lives. That same order and harmony is as much a part of our driving experience as it is part of the movement of a Swiss timepiece when God directs our movements.
As I found a sense of peace about safety and harmony on the roads I remembered the Children’s Prayer, “God good, guides, guards and governs.” That pretty much says it all.
I,too, had an incident where someone wasn’t paying attention to traffic. Where I live there has been much road work done to improve conditions so that there will be less accidents. Turn lanes were put in so it has made a 2 lane highway into a 4 lane highway, with the turn lanes. I was coming home and had pulled into the turn lane to make my turn when a car came out of the side street right at me then suddenly swerved into the lane I had been in to avoid hitting me, for a moment he was in the wrong lane for his direction of traffic. For an instant I wondered if I was in the wrong place, I wasn’t, but all this new road construction had momentarily confused the other driver. When I am on the road I pray for safety and to express God’s intellegence when I am driving and for the other drivers too.
Thank you, Evan, for your spiritual insights into everyday happenings. This helps me to pray without ceasing. When our three sons were little and I buckled them into their carseat, or the adult seatbelts, I affirmed outloud that Divine Life, Truth and Love was where our protection comes from. Not the seatbelt.
Evan,
Reading your blog about the car accident was so powerful that I was struck in wonderful way with how much harder I wanted to pray to see such protection for us all. I thought about how that being struck with goodness was what was always happening.
I thought about what an impenetrable wall of joy, peace, protection, comfort – not threat and danger – we live in.
The wonderful truths in your account created a ripple effect of good for all who were touched by the reading of your article.
Thanks so much.
Nell,
Oh, I like you phrase “struck with goodness.” That is a new twist on the accident for me. But you are right. The end result was having my thought lifted above the accident into the ever-present care of God that protected us all from harm–in essence I was “struck by goodness” after all the debris settled down, and that goodness that “struck” me helped me find peace of mind about the whole incident and let fear of it go.
After reading your article I realized I need to do more prayerful work when I drive or think about others driving. In fact, when I see an animal by the side of the road, I’ve been praying too, to know that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” Also, that I am not an instrument of death, in any way. I am the reflection of life eternal, and not even a little bug can clash with me or my car, as we are all under the control of the loving divine Parent, Mother/Father God. God is orchestrating His creation and we can “live and move” in accord with Her loving symphony.