This space is normally used for bragging on the good works of the community or offering suggestions of our opinion concerning city government to a range of other topics.

Unfortunately, we choose today to use this space to discuss a tragic happening that has touched the community.

This past Friday a young high school student from our community died in a fatal car accident.

This was a tragedy and this paper in no way implies otherwise.

A young life was taken from loved ones and cannot be replaced.

What we attempt to do is offer realization and an optimistic view regarding this tragedy.

Great men in our time have commented that even in the worst tragedies that there are positive outcomes that can prevail.

When people realize that death can take any person, any age at any given time they understand that it is a fate that they are not prepared to accept.

When we hear about such an accident similar to that of the young student in Selma, people need to take time to reflect on their personal lives and being.

As many Southern Baptists and Christians as a whole know, we are to live every day as the last.

That saying prefixes one’s ability to analyze who they are, how their relationships with others measure up, and it as well excludes things such as fancy homes, cars and other material items.

We offer this to our readers:

Take the time to reflect on how you live your life.

Also how much time you spend with your loved ones.

How about your children?

A motivational speaker by the name of Dennis Wheatley has been recorded as saying that life can be compared to a game.

But not just any game. In this game there are no time-outs or breaks.

Each day deserves the same effort to achieve whatever goals one has set.

If that goal is to be a better parent, Wheatley offers to his listeners that each day that person strives to spend more quality time and teach valuable lessons to their children.

The reason for this is due to the inevitable fact that no one can run from death.

It is the one thing that each person who reads this column has in common.

Our purpose is not to scare anyone; rather it is to prepare us for the worst.

Remember that we need to offer 100 percent of ourselves to family, friends and whatever your priorities may be.