Selfish actions have consequences

A couple of weeks ago when I arrived at work and read the daily newspaper we receive, I learned that a young lady who was in her early 20s had been killed in an automobile accident over the weekend. This brought back some not so nice past memories.

People die every day, in fact most every time we turn on the television or read the daily newspaper we find out about people who die in many different ways. Sometimes it is better to not listen to the news because we can then not know about all the bad things that happen around the world.

The death of the young lady bothered me more because she was killed by a driver who hit the car she was driving that was charged with driving drunk. This reminded me of the other people I have known over the years who were killed by someone driving drunk.

After several days had passed by, everyone learned more about this young lady whose life was taken by the drunk driver. She had a twin sister, she was a Christian, she had attended college to become a school teacher and she was to be married to a young man in a few weeks.

The day of the wreck, the soon bride-to-be had attended a bridal shower and had attended another pre-wedding event and was on her way home from this event when the wreck happened. After the drunk driver hit her car, another car not far behind his car also hit her car and this driver was also charged with driving drunk.

What should have been an upcoming week of excitement for the young bride-to-be, her husband-to-be, family members and many friends who knew them turned out to be a week of mourning. She was buried on a Friday, which was the day before her wedding was to be held. We all feel very sorry for someone we never knew because of the tragedy of the situation that caused her early death.

When most of us hear about a bad thing that happens to someone that we never knew, we will pray for their family members, the young man she was to marry and their many friends. We will also pray for the young students who she taught in school. It is hard to imagine what it must be like to a small child to learn that their teacher had been killed in a car wreck. Also, none of us want to know what it would be like to lose a family member because a drunk driver had caused a wreck that killed them.

Apparently, there are a lot of people who take illegal drugs, too many prescription drugs, drink alcohol and then get behind the steering wheel of an automobile and drive. These type folks are selfish people who must think about themselves only and their pleasures in life. They fail to think how their stupid actions can result in the death of another person and ruin the lives of many others for a very long time.

Those who drive while under the influence of alcohol are placing themselves very close to being a murderer than they can imagine. The bible says “thou shall not kill” and that applies to all of us.

When you are driving an automobile and drinking or doing any of the things mentioned in this column, as well as speeding or texting, you could be putting yourself in a position that could cause you to kill someone or yourself.

The roadways are always busy, and as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, they will become busier. Please do not drive a vehicle if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, because you could kill someone or yourself.

May God continue to be with families who have lost loved ones because of the foolish actions of others and with the family of those who might have caused these unnecessary deaths.

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