Most of you reading this have no doubt heard all of the news about the power outage that happened today. In fact, many of you may have experienced a black-out of anywhere from a few seconds to several hours. Experts aren’t sure, but they indicate that the power loss may have been caused by a semi that collided with a power pole arond 600 West and 9500 South.
Well, at approximately 10:30 this morning, when that accident purportedly occurred, I was stopped in traffic on 9000 South at the Sandy Parkway intersection (almost 700 West), when suddenly, everything around me lit up as if lightning had just struck. Simultaneously, a sound like roaring thunder exploded in my ears.
The sound was coming from behind and to my left, so I quickly turned to see what had happened. A single power pole had erupted in a cloud of electric blue light, and flames were falling from it onto the grass and bushes underneath. The power lines on either side of the pole were shaking violently. This—along with the thunderous sound—lasted for 5 or 10 seconds (as I think about it, it seems like it was 20 or 30 seconds, but I’m probably just imagining it that way because it was so traumatic). Now, you’ve all seen explosions in movies, but I’m here to tell you that movie sound effects do not hold a candle to what a real explosion sounds like. Imagine a thunder clap from 20 feet away. The sound did not come from the pole, it came up from the ground. It was a low, extremely loud rumble that literally shook me, my car, and everything else around me.
I seriously contemplated pulling to the side of the road and getting out of my car to run for my life. I was fully imagining that at any moment the next power line over would start doing the same thing, or that nearby buildings would somehow catch on fire as well. After it stopped, I continued to shake—not from the thunder, but from my own nervousness. The whole thing really scared me. I really thought I might die.
Later this evening, I drove by the same spot and was able to identify the pole that exploded. It has several black marks around the top of it, but is otherwise completely intact. I’m amazed it survived such an ordeal.
A lot of news stories seem so trivial: “Oh, the power went out, that’s too bad.” But after being through something like this, I really have to just step back and wonder how easy it would be for any one of us to die. On TV, people die only under extreme conditions, especially while risking their lives for noble causes. In real life, people die in their back yards, at work, at school, even while sitting in traffic. I could’ve died today. I could’ve died yesterday. I could die on my way home tomorrow.
I thank God for His divine providence and mercy that I’ve lived as long as I have, and that I have another day to praise Him and serve Him. I thank God for giving me the opportunity of knowing that if I died today He would bring me home to meet Him. I don’t know how I would live my life without His promises and His love. 