Are you REALLY prepared to ride today?
Sure, we all know the risks of riding a motorcycle. But do we ever really sit down and fully think about the consequences of an accident and all that it brings? I suspect if you are like most of us, you try not to dwell on it too much and put it out of your mind. But this last week has again thrust it back to the forefront of mine as well as many others in this group.
I can’t tell you just how fast something like this happens. You need to realize you can be gone in the blink of an eye. One minute you are having a great ride on a beautiful day, and the next moment you are dead on the side of the road never to talk to your wife or children again. Motionless, breathless, dead. Never to kiss your wife or play with your kids or even say goodbye. Too late. End of story. Times up.
Is that too graphic a picture for you? Good. I intended it to be. Let that image sink in for a moment. It is forever burned into my retinas and one I will never forget. The sick feeling it gives me in the pit of my stomach is enough to make me nauseas. Once you are gone, that is it. All it takes is one little thing to go wrong and you are dead. Gone. Period. Final. Forever.
You can talk all day about MSF safety classes and “Riding Your Own Ride” and all the things you can do to make your bike and ride safer, but in the end there really is only one thing that matters. Because all the safety classes, track days, lectures, and practice sessions in the world are no guarantee you won’t get hurt or killed in this sport.
Before you ever throw a leg over a motorcycle, you better have a right relationship with Jesus Christ. And you need to have a Church Family that your survivors can fall back on in the event of your death or hospitalization.
When I had my accident in 2000, you know who drove my wife from Texas to Arkansas to see me in the hospital? One of our Church members. You know who drove his truck and trailer from Fort Worth Texas to Mountain Home Arkansas and back to pick up my wrecked bike? You guessed it. One of my Church members. Another Christian friend picked me up at the hospital and took me to the airport in Springfield (2 ½ hours away) to fly home and then stored my bike in his garage for me till I could send someone to pick it up. My Bible school class prayed with me and my wife through my recovery and continued to pray for our safety when we got back on the bike and started to travel on it again. So now one of the first things I always do before leaving town is to drop a note with the Church and ask them to keep me in their prayers.
Had I passed away when I had my accident, I feel my wife would be confident knowing that I trust and believe in Christ and that he has forgiven me for my many sins. I would never ride without him anywhere. And I suggest you don’t either.