A Man's Faith

     My professor, Dean of Freshman Studies, told me and the class an especially interesting story about hope and faith. (I go to a Catholic university just to make things clear.) She told us about this man during Hurricane Sandy in New York had relied on God for everything, but there was a cool twist at the end. Since I thought the story was cool, I thought I would share it. Let me just see if I can get the words out right and remember correctly.

 

     Now this man was in his home and the police were warning everybody about the storm. The rain was falling down hard, and everyone was evacuating. The police came to the man's door to warn him and take him to safety. The man shook his head and replied, "No, God will take care of me." The police obviously couldn't understand why he would want to stay in his house with danger on the way. But they eventually left.

     This time the rain wasn't just pouring down; the flood was here. And it filled the first floor of the house. So the police had come by boat while the man had moved from ground floor to the second. They told him through the second floor's window, "Come, we're here to rescue you. You can't stay in this house any longer." The man still refused to go and replied, "No, I told you 'God will take care of me.'" And off again they went.

     The next time the police had to come by helicopter because the man was now on top of his roof. The hurricane flooded his house from top to bottom, or bottom to top, whichever way you would like to put it. The police dropped the ladder from the helicopter and offered it to the man, "Your house is gone. You're sitting on its roof and you are in need of assistance. Grab the ladder so we can save you. You can't survive the hurricane, it'll kill you." Again, this stubborn, stubborn man said "no" one more time. "I told you I don't need your help. I'm fine. God will take care of me." And they left.

     If you think there was another instant that the police came to save him, you're dead wrong. Did the man live? Of course not. He's dead. Anyone could've found that out easily, but when you think the whole story was about faith, you would normally assume he lived. What came next was the interesting part.

     The guy is now dead, and he confronts the Big Man Up in the Sky. The man asks, "Why? Why did I die, God? I thought you said if I had enough faith, you would take care of me. So why did I have to die?"

     "My child, I was taking care of you."

     "How?"

     "I sent you the police, I sent you the boat, and I sent you the helicopter. And you refused all three. I never did stop taking care of you. I was always there. But you denied my assistance. And therefore, you stand before me."

     I loved that ending. Even though I'm not religious, I thought that it was pretty touching. I don't even remember why my professor told us that story, but oddly I remember the story. Maybe it spoke to me in some way, I don't know. I hope others could take this and apply it to themselves. It doesn't even have to be about God. Just think of it as your own idea of how you control every bit of your actions and the choices you make (whether right or wrong), and how they determine what happens next. Basically, your actions have consequences.