I heard the sound in the distance growing louder so I walked out the front door and saw the helicopter as it zoomed over the housetops. My young son was standing on the sidewalk filled with excitement at the sight of the blades flashing in the sunlight. But my heart immediately grew nervous. It was the first day of summer vacation in our little town and the aircraft was heading towards the lake that lay in the distance. I hoped that this was not evidence of tragedy, but too many times just such a sight had led me into the house of mourning; the teenagers huddled in the waiting room unable to believe that their friends had died on that corner. The young man in tears sitting in his bedroom as he remembered his best friends last words before he jumped into the lake, only to hit the log that was submerged just below the surface. The church filled to overflow with high schoolers, still numb over losing their friend who had slipped off the boat deck into the water, his body retrieved later by rescue divers. As a youth pastor, the sounds of sirens in the distance clutch at my heart, and always bring forth from the recesses of my memory seasons of mourning for lives cut too short.
As I sit here writing these words, the 14 year old passenger is still in the hospital with numerous injuries. The other young passenger in the car escaped serious injuries and the16 year old driver is waiting to hear if he will face charges of some kind. They are fortunate....For they ignored the warnings.
The road around the lake cuts along the hillside and contains many curves and dips in the road. Each corner is clearly marked by an obvious sign which gives directions as to what is coming and the proper speed at which to take it. The dips and bumps are also clearly marked and painted in such a way as to be readily seen. The corner they missed was marked in just such a fashion....But the greatest warning can be found just off the roadside among the grass. On the very same corner that these three teenagers went off the road sits three small crosses marking the spot where three teenagers previously lost their lives. Over the years since their deaths, I have pointed out these crosses to my children, along with the story of one of the girls who was dear to my heart. Not just as a reminder to drive carefully, but as a reminder to heed the warnings in life.
I see marriages fail. I see children hating their parents and parents angry towards their children. I see relationships crumble and people turning to addictive lifestyles to numb the pain. I see warnings all around me. In the hurts that I witness, I hear the sirens calling out to be heard and am reminded of the words found in Jeremiah..
"I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’Jer. 6:17
I drive around the lake and slowly round the corner past the recent tiremarks and weather worn crosses and wonder how these kids could have ignored all the signs, the warnings. But I am reminded that most of us ignore signs and warnings everyday. Signs of relational weakness. Signs of impending financial disaster. All around us are memorials marking paths that have led to heartache and yet these paths are filled with people convinced that they will be the exception, merrily marching to their death.
So many times as I have tried to comfort people who have experienced the heartache that lies at the end of the paths they have taken, they have asked in some form, " How could God allow this to happen?". In those times, I want to remind them of the warnings that they ignored, warnings that God gave them. And I want them to know that we warn those that we love.
Its why I drove my kids to that corner that I hate once again and slowed so that they could take in the scene. A tragedy narrowly averted next to three crosses marking a tragedy occurred. Warnings from a father to the children he loves.
