Seatbelts Save Lives

Wait, but do they?  All lives?  All the time?  That’s quite the grandiose statement, and I am sure we are all well aware that this is not 100% true.  So does this mean we shouldn’t wear seatbelts?  Is safety an illusion that seatbelts have created??!!  Is there anything that can keep us safe??!!  Is safety just an illusion??

I recently attended a retreat where we had to select a picture that symbolized a proverbial weight that we had been holding onto; and one that we needed to let go of.  I was drawn to a picture of a house on fire, and in the foreground there was a firefighter with an older lady looking on as the fire blazed.  They stood there frozen, staring, a million thoughts racing through their heads.  How could this have happened?  Aren’t smoke detectors supposed to keep this from happening?  As I looked at that picture, I thought, Safety Is An Illusion.   

There’s nothing, or no one, that can keep us completely safe.  So what’s the point in trying, right?  

Wrong.  The point of life is to try and do your best.  That’s what seatbelts do.  They try to keep you safe.  Smoke detectors try to keep you safe.  Tornado sirens try to keep you safe.  Hard hats on a construction site try to keep you safe.  These things all help to diminish risk, but not completely prevent it at all costs. 

But you know what else can help keep you safe–even safer than seatbelts?  A Community of safe people.  In a Community of people in whom you trust to support, encourage, and challenge you, safety is not an illusion.  It is a lighthouse.  When accidents happen, your Community comes to your rescue.  A Community of these kinds of people is the best seatbelt you will ever find.  These seatbelts DO, in fact, save lives.  

So get in the car with your people and buckle up, because, inevitably, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.