"Not only did I remember I have a heart and a soul even when I’m stuck in traffic, but I also realized that I have a responsibility."

Larissa Kaye Batten (LLbeara@aol.com) writes "Soul Food," a weekly column for SpiritSite.com.  

Larissa is a prolific writer whose work has been featured in several publications.

I have spent plenty of hours of my life caught in heavy traffic resulting from an auto wreck. How about you?

Have you ever set off on vacation only to find that a car wreck has added hours to your journey?

Have you ever wanted to rush home from work to kiss your kids only to discover the person who ran a red light is responsible for your kids falling asleep before you get home?

Have you ever had tickets to the best concert or ball game ever only to miss the game due to a car pileup on the freeway?

Let’s be honest. Car accidents delay everything we love in life. They always occur at the wrong time on the wrong road. Sometimes they even cause more accidents because we are so obsessed with rubbernecking.

But something occurred to me recently. Is it possible that I have a purpose at the scene of a wreck?  Do I ever stop to think who is really suffering?

Hey, I’m not the one pinned in the car. I'm not the one being removed with the Jaws of Life. Nor am I the child screaming for my sister who is being given CPR.

No, I’m the one stuck in heavy traffic mourning the loss of the time I planned to spend with my loved one.

Of course, I’m also the one ignoring the fact that the person who may have just died in the accident won’t go home to his loved one at all.

My ego gets all torn up at the sight of an accident because, after all, my ego has so many incredibly important plans that are being delayed by someone else’s accident.

But what about my soul?  I do have one of those. In fact, I even have a heart.

Thank God (literally) I realized that not too long ago. Not only did I remember I have a heart and a soul even when I’m stuck in traffic, but I also realized that I have a responsibility.

I do not know CPR. I am not a medical technician. I am not a nurse, an emergency medical technician, a physician, or a physician assistant. I barely know the first thing about practicing medicine.

But God gave me the gift of prayer, and I can’t think of a greater gift to have at the scene of an accident.

Realistically, I could continue to groan and gripe over the amount of traffic.  Or, as I discovered not too long ago, I could use my precious gift of prayer.

I have begun to take a new approach when I pass by a car accident.

I pray. I pray for the injured. I bless them. I pray for the families of the injured. I bless them. I pray for the ambulance drivers. I bless them. I pray for the health-care workers. I bless them. I pray for all those involved at the scene of the accident.

I suppose I forgot one important prayer. Maybe I need to pray for those of us stuck in traffic.

After all, we’re the ones who tend to be so self-absorbed we forget that we’re late for dinner because someone might be dying.

It’s not as though I’m going home to my last supper. But somebody in the accident might already have had his or hers.

It’s time for me to remember how lucky I am when I’m stuck in traffic while someone else is being rescued by the Jaws of Life.

It’s high time I learn to open my own jaws and say some heartfelt prayers.

Thank you God for watching over this accident and all those affected by it.

Thank you God for opening my heart again to the world around me.

Amen.

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