The van pictured above was being driven by my 18 year old nephew when, in order to avoid a swerving car driven by an idiot with a cell phone, he turned off the road. Unfortunately, when trying to get back on the highway, my nephew lost control of the vehicle, it spun around, flipped over, and collided with a tree.
The damage above is the result.
How my nephew managed to escape the car and avoid injury, except for a minor cut and some back pain, is a testament to the miraculous. Call it fate, luck, or the grace of God, but the bottom line is that Death was not in the equation, which I am certainly thankful for.
I can only imagine what went through his mind. Near death experiences have the power to both cripple and reinvigorate. I am hoping it's the latter. I know I've thought very much about it, since seeing this photograph. It made me question my motives. What's driving me? What do I want to be said, when life is no longer apart of the equation?
I was fortunate enough to read the wise words of an acquaintance earlier today:
The objective of life is not to make it through. The objective of life is to make it count.
When it's all said and done, will my life count? And for what?
Seeing what my nephew endured made me tired of simply asking questions. It is time to produce some emphatic answers. So that, when it's all said and done, I will know without a doubt exactly why my life mattered.
Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet
