Nearly hitting a church sister when backing up my car taught me important life lessons

Going to small group gatherings on Saturday nights has been my weekly habit for the past few months. I was assigned to pick up a church brother and an elderly couple from their home.

It's a pretty long drive, it took us half an hour to go there and another half to return home. Everything seemed smooth, and I was happy because I drove as safely as possible.

I dropped the elder couple from the passenger seats from the back. The husband got out of the car and stood at the curb. His wife decided to get out of the vehicle from the driver's side.

Just to let you know that the house is located on a steep hill. After dropping them off in my car, I shifted to "Reverse" gear to get more space for the front. The church brother's car was in front of me, and I wanted to ensure I had enough space.

I didn't realize that the elderly lady was behind my car.

When I released the brake a little, the car slipped backward more than I expected, and I heard someone knock on the trunk of my car. My foot was still on the brake pedal;

I immediately stepped on my brake as hard as possible; I looked to the side and found out that the elder church sister was not on the curb.

I was shocked and not sure what to do. I looked around my car; the younger church brother just signaled me to drive forward.

Reached home safely. But I have zero peace in my heart because I didn't know what had happened.

Photo by Nubelson Fernandes on Unsplash

Did I hit the church sister? Is she doing fine? A million questions popped in my head even though I was signaled a while ago that everything was alright. I regret that I was dumb not to drive forward instead of backing up my car.

I texted her husband and the younger brother to ask if the church sister was doing fine. I was anxious and didn't know how to handle my mixed emotions.

The most relieving text response came back from the husband. He thanked me for giving them a ride and told me his wife was okay. I felt relieved but remorse for not being careful until the end.

The next day, the church brother explained that it was not my fault because even if I tried to drive forward, the car would have slipped, and I still needed to step on the brakes.

What he said makes complete sense. At that time, if I shifted to "Drive" gear while I was transitioning from brake to acceleration pad, it might be even more dangerous than the stupid mistake I made (Reverse the car with my foot on the brake) because the car was going to move backward since it's on the slope.

However, I still blamed myself for not being cautious of my surroundings and ensuring everyone was safe. But the church brother's explanations did soothe my heart.

The reason for sharing my experience is that I was so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity of experiencing those negative emotions without any casualties.

I couldn't imagine if someone accidentally hits someone innocently and the victim gets injured or passes away. The emotional and mental guilt would be heavy for ordinary people to handle. Nothing terrible in my case, but I couldn't fall asleep that night.

I was calling upon the name of the Lord and asked Him to forgive my mistake. Now I could empathize with someone who made mistakes to hurt others they never meant to.

Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

Super grateful for this lesson the Lord gave me. If I did not experience this, I would only think that the victims bear the pain.

People who accidentally hurt others will not suffer less pain mentally and emotionally than the victims themselves. This is not saying that those people are not at fault. But they definitely cannot live as generally as we think they should.

Putting oneself in others' shoes is more than understanding and empathizing; it is a new mental and emotional experience that strikes our life.