The Power Of An Instant

'Streams' Kellie Graham 2010

At any given moment, we are an instant away from cataclysmic change in our lives.  I was gripped by this thought after dropping in to check the blog of one of my favorite world and humanitarian photographers, David DuChemin www.pixelatedimage.com who made the decision earlier this year to give up his condo and sell his belonging in order to travel across the U.S. and Canada on a photographic expedition.  He began his journey in February, and has been writing about the various people he's met and the sights that he has seen.  


Imagine my surprise when I checked his blog after being away for a few weeks, and I see pictures of him lying in a hospital bed.  He shared the story of how he went to Italy to do a photography tour with a group of students.  They were in the city of Pisa, where he decided to lean over a 20 foot wall in order to get a better angle for a picture, and in an instant he slipped and fell from the wall, landing on the concrete below.  He had to be flown to Ottawa to be closer to his family, and will have to undergo several surgeries and a recovery time of up to six months.  All of his plans for a photographic journey over the next year were changed...in an instant.  


Pastor Russ recently shared a story with us about a lady named Cassandra who had been coming to our church for the last six months.  She sat in her wheelchair on the main level of the church each week, and was so excited to be there.  Pastor Russ said he spoke with her on Sunday after the service and she said that she wasn't feeling that well.  He spoke with her for a few minutes, and on her way out she said that she would see him next week.  She took the bus home and died that afternoon.  The power of an instant.


My own life changed in an instant a little over a month ago - I had participated in a missions trip to Mexico for one week and returned home on a Sunday afternoon.  I went in to work the next day, expecting another regular Monday at the office.  Instead, I was informed that my job no longer existed at the company I worked for, and within ten minutes I was unemployed.  My life took a very unexpected turn in an instant.


Lest I sound completely negative in the ways that our lives can change, I would say as well that I am also an instant away from meeting someone who has a connection in a company that is hiring.  I'm an instant away from hearing a word from the Lord, either through a book, someone on TV, or through the voice of a friend, that gives me direction as to what the next step should be.  I'm also an instant away from that phone call that says "we'd like you to come in for an interview" or better yet, the one that says "your hired!"


We do not know what is held in the next moment of our lives.  The trajectory of everything can change in an instant.  We think we have an idea of how things are going to go, but we really do not know.  All we have is this instant, we have no control over the next.  But thankfully I know Someone who does, and my life is in His hands.