This past weekend in North Carolina, in the wee-hours of the morning, four teenagers were involved in a car crash. A 17 year old and 15 year old died. The two 16 year olds sustained injuries. They were not wearing their seat belts.
This morning on a local talk radio show, a caller said that it is state law that a teen cannot drive a car at night without an adult. They also cannot drive with more than one other minor in the car without being accompanied by an adult. If we would just follow the law, these teens would not die.
So if we make enough laws, no one will ever die tragically? needlessly? too young? before their time?
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How can we remove all risk from our lives? I mean, REALLY remove it 100%?
We take risks everyday, whether they seem risky or not. Just hopping out of bed each morning is a risk. I might stub my toe. I might slip in the shower. I might even jab my gums with my toothbrush. All in the first 10 minutes of the day! Granted these things only result in minor pain, we still run the risk of pain. And boy, how we run from pain. Do we really believe that sitting on our sofa at home is a truly safe environment?
Since the fall of this earth, pain has been an ever-present element of the recipe. No amount of legislation and rule making is going to make the pain disappear completely. It might lessen the chances that we kill ourselves and those around us, but pain will still bubble up to the surface in one way or another.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics (which is the only thing I remember from high school science) says that the world is in a constant state of decay. Entropy. All things are breaking down. My laundry is not sitting on the floor cleaning itself. It's piling up and starting to stink. That banana on the counter is not getting fresher by the minute; it is decomposing and attracting flies.
The fact that entropy exists means that I am going to have to "risk it" everyday. Often times, as with my laundry, I already know the outcome. If I wear these clothes they'll end up getting added to the dirty pile. And I'll have to deal with it. Often times though I don't know the outcome... like when I get into my car with my three kids. Is today a day that I'm going to run out of gas by the side of the road? Will I get hit by a semi truck? A drunk driver? Will I get a flat tire? Gosh, so many things could go wrong, perhaps we ought to just stay home.
Think about that with making friendships. Joining a church. Making a career change. Trying a new recipe. Telling someone that you love them. Dropping your guard and communicating to your spouse or your kids, or your parents for that matter. Moving to another country.
In this fallen world, things break. Cars, laws, relationships, churches, marriages, bones, land masses... it's all prone to breakdown and erosion. But does that mean we should not engage it and take a risk? Frankly, I think that if the world is going to break down, it's going to do so with or without me and my risks. I ought to get a little enjoyment out of it when I can. The blessings are not always overshadowed by the decay.
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