The Crosswalk Incident: A Moment Between Life and Grace
By Renaldo C. McKenzie
On Wednesday, I walked across the street toward the polling station, thinking about the day ahead — nothing special, just another civic duty to be done before work.
Then it happened.
A car shot out of the Save-A-Lot parking lot. It wasn’t slowing down. It wasn’t looking. It was coming straight at me — fast.
I glanced left, and time froze. I saw the driver’s face, the glare of the windshield, the motion of metal closing the distance between us. Instinct — or maybe God — took over. I twisted sideways, slammed my palm onto the hood, and started running backward as the car pushed me several feet across the street.
“Hey! Stop!” I shouted, breath slicing through panic. For a moment, it felt unreal — like I was watching someone else’s near-death scene play out, only it was mine. The car finally stopped, inches from taking me down completely.
My heart pounded so hard I could hear it over the hum of the engine. I stood there, trembling, staring at the driver who now looked as shocked as I was. People from the polling station ran over, asking if I was okay. I was — somehow. My legs were shaking, but I was standing. Alive.
Then something strange happened: calm. A peace I can’t quite explain flooded my chest and steadied my breath. My thoughts drifted back to a simple prayer I’d said just before stepping out of the car — a quiet plea for protection, for grace over my life and my loved ones.
And there it was — answered in motion, right in the middle of asphalt and adrenaline.
I could’ve been gone in seconds. But I wasn’t.
A disaster averted. A life spared.
Later, as I thought about it, the memory replayed over and over — the screech of tires, the blur of motion, the thud of my hand on the hood. It reminded me how fragile this all is. How we walk through ordinary days without realizing how close we drift to the edge, how a single heartbeat can divide the routine from the miraculous.
I didn’t faint. I didn’t fall. I just breathed — shaken, but grateful.
And as I finally walked into the polling station, I couldn’t help but whisper, thank You.
—
RCM, November 8th 2025
Rev. Renaldo C McKenzie, Author of Neoliberalism Globalization Income Inequality Poverty and Resistance Neoliberalism.
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