Gift and Grace

The right engine caught fire; the left engine failed. The two-engine DC-3 aircraft went out of control. There was no way to escape. I took the crash position, and closed my eyes tight. The life was coming to an end, at the least expected moment and in the least expected way!! I cried out and prayed from the depth of my heart... “Oh God.... Please... Please...Don't let me die now..... Give me one more chance ... and I shall live only for your glory .... Please, Lord... please……” The entire life flashed back in front of me...... My beloved mother was singing a beautiful lullaby, trying to put me to sleep! My father was carrying me on his shoulders......... From childhood to the present.... Finally there was my little daughter Deepti singing and dancing before me her favourite 'Baloo dance' from the 'Jungle Book' that she was so fond of seeing again and again...... I was an atheist for many years. But at that critical moment I had a glimpse of a reality beyond death..... I came to realise that there is a force beyond myself that guided my life and destiny.... The plane crash-landed into a large lake.... No one died. I did not have a scratch on my body....... It was a miraculous escape. I walked out of the lake a totally changed person. Life has never been the same for me ever since. Today I see life as a beautiful gift and grace of an ever-loving God... Given to us free........