Moments Of Action

There never seems to be an answer to that one moment of action. There are numerous factors that keep the world in a balance every second. If one of these is slightly altered, the stability is broken, the harmony shattered, the world changed. However, the answer one should give to these moments is unclear. Whether those moments are for the better or the worse, only time can tell.

As the fourth quarter clock winds down to the final seconds of a crucial game, the quarterback completes a long range pass for the game winning touchdown. At the moment of its occurrence, it is a tempest of action that can determine the future for many of those involved. It is one of those moments without any explanation. The quarterback might have caught attention from a national football league scout. Maybe the touchdown receiver would be heralded as a hero for his team for years to come. It could possibly affect somebody watching the game from the other side of the world, causing them to realize that nothing is impossible. Though these are the results that primarily come to mind, there is a side to the play that is frequently overshadowed. What happened if the star wide receiver got hurt on the play, and it ends up being a career-ending injury? What about the reputation of the losing coach, who could get fired at the end of the season due to that one loss? All these happen in an instant, a second, just a moment of action that creates an impact that doesn’t have a response.

As a car passes by, a pedestrian stumbles over his own shoes, and dives headfirst into the path of the charging vehicle. After the dust clears, police handcuff the driver, and the victim’s family is making plans for a funeral. That one moment of action just affected two unfortunate people’s families, and possibly even more than that. The driver was going at fairly legal speeds, and he ended up being detained for murder. The man who was killed was the only one supporting his wife and son, yet he is gone and his family is stranded. As the moment passes, one can only imagine what would have gone down IF something else happened. If only the pedestrian had taken an extra second to tie his shoes, he would have lived to see the light of day for another second.