The Safety Deception

 

This rarely happens, right?

When I watched cablevision more than a decade ago there used to be a pretty gruesome show on TBS.  The show was labeled "1000" Ways to Die".  A more appropriate title would have been "Stupid Folks Doing Stupid Stuff".  

Individuals were engaging in dangerous activities such as drilling into hand grenades, leaping from heights with only a rope tied around their waist, swallowing billiard balls, attempting to surf on a mattress atop a car traveling at 50 MPH, and consuming inedible objects. It was emphatically stated that participating in any of these acts could result in severe injury or death.  Really?  They have to give that warning?

There are 1000 ways to die without doing anything ridiculous. 

Can you imagine....................

The grandkids came to visit grandma and they had the flu.......................

He was leaning off the ladder to retrieve his hammer...............................

She was texting on her cell phone driving through town..........................

He was changing out an outlet, but didn't shut off the breaker.................

He was driving 100 miles an hour on a curvy mountainous route............

She was hiking alone at 9:00pm...............................................................

He fell asleep with the cigarette in his hand............................................

She went surfing alone in a great white feeding zone..............................

Yellow light, so he slammed down the gas petal.....................................

She felt a good vibe about him, so she climbed in his car........................

He left his vehicle to get a better picture of the grizzly mother and cubs.

Now a channel showing these scenarios that play out with regularity would be truly terrifying, eh?

Yet, a more daunting reality exists none of us are promised another moment on this earth. Just a slight malfunction of my heart muscle and I may be a cadaver. This awareness doesn't mean I live in fear, as some might, but rather that I remain acutely conscious of my environment. No one thinks death is nifty and enjoys pain.   

Moving on, I observe people; I'm not a stalker. My interest lies in watching how individuals behave and their level of self-awareness. While driving, instead of relying on turn signals, I focus on the drivers' eyes and their attention to their surroundings.  My findings are stark.

A young woman was texting on her cell phone in the car next to me at a stop light. I stared at her looking sideways to see if she perceived me there. I don't think she was aware of much of anything. In fact, she started to accelerate early and had to stop abruptly.

Let's change boxes for a moment. Let's discuss the dangers of a warped world view. About a decade ago I was studying diligently on how to cut costs.  I ran across an interesting blog by Colorado money man.  I gleaned some of what he taught to get out of debt.  Some logical good information was on his blog. 

 That being said, Colorado money man teaches that everyone should own only tiny cars and use these expensive transportation devices very sparingly. How do you get around in the meantime? Well, he's teaching that the bicycle is the safest and most cost-effective form of transportation.  

Don't drive your car with all these safety features, ride a bike for everyday chores!  Wusses drive automobiles. I kid you not. I would agree with him if SUVs and semi-trucks didn't occupy the same roads as me. Just kidding, no sedans either.

 Also, there are a lot of distracted drivers out there.  This man lives in La La land.  This scenario plays out every day with folks lying in their own pool of blood. 

But I digress..............................

I came to realize he wasn't speaking to me. I live in a state with brutal cold temperatures a lot of the year.  This year it has hit 30 below zero a couple of times.  Also, I was in my 40s, and worked between schools daily during that time I read his blog.

Just a few days ago, friends in Springfield, Missouri, suffered the loss of their only daughter to an SUV collision while she was cycling. Mr. Colorado Money might argue that such incidents are statistically rare. But does he consider that many people consciously avoid cycling near heavy traffic? If it's as rare as a shark attack how come there are YouTube videos?  That's what folks love to do. Record people riding around on their bikes. Yipeeee!

Going back to "Cell Phone Girl" as a prime example, it's evident that many drivers today are highly distracted. Knowing this makes me very alert with vehicles around. I must admit, I feel significantly safer shielded by a metal frame and airbags than being exposed among these speeding metal projectiles.  Riding bicycles should be a rare activity only done mostly away from areas of heavy traffic, in this writer's opinion. Otherwise, we may be putting ourselves at serious risk.

Here's my perspective on safety, there are some unwritten laws that cannot be broken. First, If we fall from a certain height somewhere over 30 feet onto tarmac, you will most certainly perish. Next, if we approach a bull and grab him by the horns aggressively, we will most likely be tossed, gored to death, or stomped into the dirt. A bull is a powerful and aggressive animal.  Pretty elementary in my mind.

How about, riding bicycles alongside 3000-pound cars equipped with 300-horsepower engines that can achieve high speeds rapidly on the same route, the outcome seems quite predictable, doesn't it? Add to this the distractions of drivers' phones ringing, eating fast food, computerized screens talking, and children screaming in the car.  Remember, they might be reaching for their "Big Chug" or a cigarette from 7eleven, diverting their gaze from the road. No, thank you.  

I could go on and on.  These actualities are common knowledge, pretty sure.

Finally, The Alaska Bear Man, popular during my lifetime, went to live with bears and was the subject of a film. It's unclear what his ultimate goal was—perhaps to demonstrate that the massive Kodiak bears are gentle, misunderstood creatures. Remarkably, he managed to coexist with these enormous animals for a time. However, in a tragic turn of events, he and his girlfriend were consumed by a bear, a grim reminder that sometimes, the laws of nature exact a bloody toll.

He proved what I thought was the case.  Wild bears are unpredictable and dangerous. A Native American man explained how he survived as long as he did. "The bears probably thought that he was mentally retarded".

Individuals like the ones above have a warped unbiblical view of the world. A dangerous one. Their view is a pagan perspective.  Some view the world as our mother and we receive sustenance from her. We are but the earth's children.  You should understand this teaching competently if you went to any public school.  We are a cosmic accident.  From the goo to the zoo, to you.  The ponderosa pine is our cousin. I say, "Go give it a big hug".  

The Biblical perspective teaches that the world was created for humans to govern and delight in, yet due to our propensity for sin, the earth descended into a state of disrepair alongside us.  The animals changed too and are apprehensive around human beings now.  There's good reason, eh?

In essence, the world is affected by sin, and despite its beauty, it is not functioning or yielding as it ought to. Thus, people starve to death. Also, great ocean liners sink into the watery depts. In this fallen world, dressers fall over and crush precious babies, someone speeding in a car that hits a solid object at 100mph perish instantly of blunt trauma. Someone driving drunk strikes a family head on in a minivan resulting in the instant death of the entire family. The drunk driver is unharmed.

If we look around, we will discover that the animals and the earth are perishing.  Well, we should be gods ourselves and save this place.  We can't.  It's not within our abilities.  Sorry.

And that raises the question, why doesn't God fix this mess?  He is patient, waiting for everyone to seek Him.  Some people want to be independent from God.  However, He still is giving everyone every opportunity.  

We'll talk later about the Adamic and Noahic covenants.  God established these natural laws in the book of Genesis.  They are solid and can't be changed by any man. 

I'm tired....