There are those who listen to tales from other people and have one view point and there are those who have a totally different take.
If one truly believes in existence of God then things look much different to him/her than from the one who does not. The following true stories I picked up from watching television documentary programs and found them to be quite interesting. I have found a relevant verse from Quran that explains each, but if you are not a Moslem, then you may want to look into your own specific religion if you wish. Except for the first story, I have forgotten the name of the people in stories two and three. The only reason I still remember the first is because he is a famous person.
1- THE UNGRATEFUL HERO
Most people who live in the USA know about Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham the Congressman. However some don’t know that he was actually the US Navy’s highest scoring jet fighter ace that got this honor for fighting over Vietnam. There is much written about this man and you can find a good deal of information about him if you search the web.
However, one piece of information you may have difficulty finding is a specific thing he actually said in the TV documentary about the toughest day of his fighting career.
One day after a mission over the North Vietnam, his F-4 Phantom jet fighter gets hit by an enemy Surface to Air missile. The F-4 is a very tough jet fighter and can take a good deal of damage, but the damage and destruction on Cunningham’s aircraft was too severe. Cunningham was still over the enemy territory and if he ejected from his aircraft it would surely meant capture and torture and long imprisonment by the enemy. That frightened him immensely. His aircraft became unstable and uncontrollable no matter what he did to try to get it to fly out of harm’s way. In a last moment of fear and helplessness he says in his mind “God help me now, I don’t want to be captured”. Suddenly without any specific action on his part his aircraft becomes stable and he gets back the control. Extremely happy, he points the jet towards the safe waters off the coast of Vietnam where he could eject and be rescued.
A few moments later, happy and proud, he starts thinking that it wasn’t God helping him. F-4 is a super strong aircraft and he is one of the best pilots there is. That’s what saved him, not God! Immediately after that thought, his aircraft goes out of control again and no matter what he tried again did not help! So again he thinks “Forgive me God, it was you who helped me first”. Amazingly enough he gets back the control of his aircraft and this time flies to safe waters where he ejects and is rescued safely by the US Navy crew.
Later in life, Mr. Cunningham once again forgets God in a major way and in disgrace pleads guilty to accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes and underreporting his income for 2004. He is now serving time is jail.
The Sureh from Qur’an that most applies to Mr. Cunningham and others like him go as follows:
16, 83: They recognize the favors of God, then they deny them; and most of them (humans) are ungrateful.
2- LOST IN AMAZON
This true to life story is about a young couple gone to explore the jungles of Amazon during their vacation. Many young people like to go and visit exotic and possibly dangerous places in the world and Amazon is a major attraction to some. Needless to say that many of such adventurers get lost and disappear and when and if they are found, they had died of hunger, sickness or due to animal attacks.
This young couple, the husband and wife get themselves lost after deciding to go on without a guide, losing their map and simple lack of survival skill.
After days of wandering in the jungle, they are sick with fever and infections. They also were also hungry and began to lose their senses. Losing hope and barely able to move, the wife asks her husband who is also in bad shape to consider suicide. That way if one of them dies the other will not be alone and die on their own.
So they decide that one can cut the wrist of the other one to end their misery. However before doing that, knowing that they would die soon, they agree that since they would prefer to be clean in the presence of God. So, they go down to the small stream near the area that they were located and wash themselves and their clothes the best they could.
The couple then takes their pocket knives and approaches each other. Just before they commit suicide, they hear a faint sound of a motor. They wait and listen as the sound gets louder. They follow the stream in the dense jungle towards the sound. Suddenly, they see that the stream is merging into a river and just within sight is a local fishing boat! Screaming and yelling, they get noticed and picked up by the boat and taken to safety.
The Sureh from Qur’an that most applies to this couple and others like them goes as follows:
2,222: For God loves those who turn to Him constantly and He loves those who keep themselves pure and clean.
3- THE STRANGE CASE OF REVEREND JONES
Before he became reverend, he was Mr. Jones as he put it. Due to an unfortunate medical condition, Mr. Jones was taken to the hospital in severe medical condition. That’s all Mr. Jones remembered, while still conscious. Then he had the following ‘dream’:
I was in a tunnel of some sort going and going as far as the eye could see. I noticed people around me. At first I didn’t pay much attention to them but as I looked more carefully, I noticed that they looked angry, hateful and bitter while going about. I wasn’t much concerned until the people took notice of me and began approaching. They were cursing and vile as they approached me!
Then, all of a sudden they started attacking me for no reason! They didn’t hit me; they just bit me with their teeth! Savage and angry, they kept biting me without end. I screamed and yelled for mercy and asked why? They only got more angry and I began to really feel the torment and the pain of their bite, non-stop! The pain and the fear would not go away, I was helpless. I asked God to save me from this torment and suddenly my eyes opened and I was on the hospital bed surrounded by puzzled doctors.
I thanked them for whatever they did to wake me up. I just had the most terrible dream as I told one of the doctors! He just looked around in confusion and smiled with disbelief. I told them that I wasn’t joking and I had the most terrible and realistic dream of my entire life.
One of the doctors said, it’s okay Mr. Jones, relax. Jones asked him “Don’t you believe me?”, the doctor replied “Well we don’t know how that could be?”, Jones asked “Why not?” and the doctor said reluctantly “Because Mr. Jones … because you were dead! You had Flat-Lined for some time now and you just came back to life! A human mind is incapable of dreaming when a person is dead”
After the experience, Mr. Jones decides to live a life free of sin and evil and later becomes Reverend Jones to be able to help mankind even more.
There are many people who experience similar ‘Flat-Lined’ experiences but maybe not as severe as Mr. Jones. There are also other people who know for certain that God have given them personal guidance or warnings in a much different method. At least in some cases they didn’t have to die to be informed. All these can be questioned by non-believers but the ones who experienced them know differently.
The Sureh from Qur’an that most applies to these people and others like them goes as follows:
42,51: It is not fitting for a man (human being) that God should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil (indirectly), or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with God’s permission, what God wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise.
