I
remember a horrific story I heard on the news a
few years ago. A member of a sky diving club
decided to take a video camera with him and film
the club's jump. On the plane before the jump he
took care to see that his video equipment was all
ready. After all, it would be a shame to make the
jump without fresh batteries and a blank tape in
the camera. When the plane reached the proper
altitude the sky divers jumped, and the one with
the camera started filming their descent. There
was only one problem. He had taken care to get
his video equipment ready, but he had forgotten
to put his parachute on. When he reached to pull
his ripcord, it wasn't there. He fell to his
death.
I have often
thought of that man and tried to imagine what he
felt during his fatal fall. No doubt there was
terror, but I imagine he also had thoughts of
self recrimination--"you stupid idiot."
I am sure he wished he could have replayed the
last few minutes, but there was no way to get
back in the plane and do it over again. It was
too late. It was an act of simple forgetfulness,
but it had drastic consequences.
Such events are
not as rare as one would think. Lives are full of
similar events--simple acts of carelessness with
drastic consequences. Sometimes they are not acts
of forgetfulness but intentional actions of
choice. A man falls to temptation and sleeps with
a woman other than his wife, and it leads to the
breakup of his marriage and the alienation of his
children. A teenager drinks and drives and is
involved in an accident which kills his best
friend. There is no way the actions can be taken
back no matter how much one would wish. The
consequences sometimes are more severe than one
would have ever imagined while engaging in the
misdeed.
It does us good to
remember that life is full of danger of all
types--including moral danger. Actions have
consequences. People can be hurt and lives
destroyed even when there is no intention of
doing so.
The police
sergeant on the old TV show, "Hill Street
Blues," put it well: "Be careful out
there."
Peter, the
apostle, was even more pointed: "Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may
devour."
 1997 C. David Hess
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