On March 3, 1995, I was a passenger in a horrific head-on automobile collision. Our vehicle was hit by an oncoming car traveling 50 miles an hour on a snowy mountain pass. I was seated behind the driver and had dozed off with my head leaned up against the window. Urgently, I was life-flighted out from the Mt. Hood area to Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon where I regained consciousness the next day. 

During the moment I awoke, and discovered that I was alone and connected to various machines in a hospital room, I experienced the powerful and yet gentle presence of God. In that peaceful moment, it was as if God was speaking directly to my mind and I understood that I was being asked a simple question:  “Jeff, what is the most important thing to you?”

I opened my mouth and said, “I suppose my relationship with you and all the other relationships you would allow me to have.”

Then I understood God to say, “That’s right,” and the moment ended.

This simple and yet profound experience changed my life, and in many ways has been a tool for simplification when things get too complicated or I begin to lose my bearings in life.  I come back to my relationship with God and my relationships with others.

Where do you turn when life gets too complicated or you start losing your bearing?  My guess is that you turn to a relationship, whether it’s with family, friends, or God.  Do you remember how you felt when an idea last hit you like a ton of bricks? At Living Wholehearted, we like to call these experiences “collisions.”  You’re left standing in your tracks, knowing something just happened and your life is about to change, even if you don’t yet know how.

Collisions don’t always have an immediate cost as my car accident did, but they do move you in short order.  As long as we have breath in our lungs, we get to choose how we respond to the collisions we face in life.  The key is to notice the value behind the collision and to mine it for the gold it possesses.