The Flying Tire

It happened so fast, it was over in less than a second.  Driving over a narrow bridge, with traffic streaming in both directions, a large tire flew off an oncoming vehicle directly toward me.  I didn’t have time to think, just held the steering wheel tightly with both hands and waited for the impact.  The flying tire disappeared from sight as my car shook violently from side to side and slowed to a crawl.  I could tell the front tire on the driver’s side was damaged.  Blinkers flashing, I continued past the bridge and pulled over on the narrow shoulder.  Inside I was trembling a little, but other than that, completely fine.

For several minutes, I sat on the side, waiting for traffic to slow enough so I could exit the car and assess the damage.  The front wheel was bent backward, the wheel rim distorted and the tire completely flat.  Later, we found scrapes on the roof and back of the car, where the airborne wheel had apparently hit and bounced off.  Miraculously, other than a minor dent near the tire well and scratched paint on the roof and trunk, the car was in good shape.

The location of the accident was only ten minutes from home, and my husband was able to come right away.  The tow truck took a few hours more. And the following day, we waited for nine hours for the mechanic to come with the parts and repair the damage.  But that was it; within little more than 24 hours, the car was back on the road and my life went back to normal.

This story could have ended so differently.  When I thought back to what I was doing when the tire came flying toward me, I was listening to a guided imagery on being directed by Hashem, and at that very moment, that fraction of a second, I was saying “Hashem guides me always.”  What an expression of hashgacha pratit (Divine guidance)!  To know that at the very moment of a dangerous and potentially lethal experience, my life was being guided by Hashem’s loving care. 

Throughout the event, I was calm.  I realized it was not an accident at all.

This experience revealed first-hand, so clearly that the guidance of Hashem is not only through major events of life, such as finding the right spouse and so many other significant occasions where we seek and recognize Divine assistance.  It’s equally present in the smallest details of our lives.  If every blade of grass has an angel telling it to grow, certainly we who are created in the Divine image have angels watching and guarding us at each and every moment.

What a comfort, a gift, to realize that even situations that seem negative or inconvenient are also a manifestation of Hashem’s love and protection.  I feel so grateful and privileged to have experienced this expression of guidance from Above.