Miracles and Angels

Yesterday I went to SKS Bookstore at Tan Boon Liat Building. It was my first time there, and after hearing rave reviews about it, I was rather disappointed because I was expecting a huge warehouse. However, my initial disappointment was met with joy when the shabby interior of the bookstore gave way to the great richness of knowledge and God's messages contained in those books. I bought a New Living Translation bible and three other books, after deliberating for what seemed like hours over what are the precious things I could take away from the bookstore. As I wandered through the shelves and shelves of Christian books, I began to have a better understanding of the vast domain of Christianity, which my Catholic upbringing had not exposed me to. It was amazing how many different types of Bibles there are, how many different genres of Christian writing there are, and how many different types of Christian music exist currently. It is even more amazing how despite the abundant resources that a Christian can have today as compared to our parents' generation, evangelizing in many churches have either come to a standstill or occur in minimal amounts sporadically. Among my purchases, the book that attracted me to read it first is this book entitled Miracles and Angels. In it, the author (a scientist, archaeologian, theologian, and ex-pastor/deacon of churches in England) describes incidents in which angels were seen to have walked among us, in which miracles happened throughout the history of the world, and in all parts of the world. It is simply amazing. I cannot read two pages without tearing. Even though the incidents are recounted in a loosely categorized manner; each incident independent and distinct from itself; each description of the incident carries in itself God's love for us. It gives us hope that miracles do not happen only as written in the Bible, but it can happen to anyone of us, even to the greatest sinners. I have yet to experience any visions of Christ or audible voices or the presence of angels in plain clothes helping me out in times of need. I guess God sent the people around me to be my angels - my family, friends, mentors. Maybe the guy who appeared to help me carry my luggage down the stairs at the Rotterdam train station two years ago is an angel. Who knows? But what I do know is that God is always with me. He has given me the chance to enjoy the beauty of the world He has created on my many trips overseas. He has also protected me from death a couple of times.

On a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2000, my family had a memorable experience. We arrived at a lookout point at some part of the Grand Canyon one afternoon. It was bright and sunny although the air was cold - a perfect day. After pestering our parents to let us take a helicopter ride to the foot of the canyon where a boat was waiting to take us on a short ride down the Colorado River, my parents relented. My dad had been in a helicopter before, so he was open to letting us experience it, even at the cost of US$75 per person, which is extremely expensive for what was to be a 20-minute tour. My sister and I then boarded the helicopter and had a fun "roller-coaster" ride down to the foot of the canyon. We boarded the little boat, and went down the river. The water was green and the walls of the canyon were red and huge and rising up on both sides of the river, making for the most beautiful sight that I had ever seen. I was so in love with the place that I prayed to God to just let me stay awhile longer in this beautiful place. Knowing that our 20-minutes were almost up, I quickly took as many pictures as I could, trying to capture the beauty of that place. As the boat headed back, sleet started falling. Little pieces of ice got into my ear, and my hands were freezing cold (I wasn't wearing gloves because I was taking pictures with the camera). I was excited when sleet came, because you never get to experience that in Singapore! When we arrived back to where we boarded, we disembarked from the boat, only to find out that we had to stay below awhile longer because there was a blizzard up there and the helicopters could not fly down to take us up. Whoopee!! I rejoiced that my prayer was answered. I was ecstatic to be able to spend a longer time in that heavenly majestic creation of God. Minutes passed, then hours. Soon, we were there for almost two hours. The guides made a fire and started chopping down the little hut that was meant to be a shelter to keep the fire going. The people stranded below were feeling cold and some of them wrapped themselves in garbage bags to keep warm, as night fell. My sister (being much thinner than me, and thus less fats to insulate her) was tired, cold and hungry. Remembering that I have a packet of biscuits that I took from the hotel this morning, I gave it to her. She was kinda grumpy but I didn't know why. I thought it is a good thing to stay below for much longer. It's so beautiful. I busied myself taking more pictures and revelling in the marvelous surroundings during the whole time there until the sky turned dark. My sister then told me her fears - she was worried we will die there if we got stranded there because then it will become really cold, and we have nothing to keep us warm, no food, and there was no other access to that part of the river by foot unless rescuers came on horses through a winding road that will take more than half a day. Wow. I hadn't even thought of that. This kinda worried me a little and seeing that my sister was so cold, I felt a tinge of guilt for having made that prayer to stay awhile longer. By that time, I got a little bored of taking all the pictures, because the pictures cannot capture the grandeur of the place. I was trying to find something to do when lights started flashing - it was the lights from the helicopters! Two helicopters came down, and soon after, we were whisked away by the great red machines with whirring wings up, up, up into the air. We soon landed, and when we got out of the helicopters, we saw our parents standing by the bus with arms outstretched, waiting for us. My mum was worried sick for us (although she later admitted that she initally was happy when the snow came), and my dad had the most fantastic experience of his life (the first time he saw snow fall!). He told me later that while we were down by the river, he had prayed for snow, and God answered his prayers. When we got back on the bus, my dad reached into his pocket and brought out two mini cartons on which were written - Ostrich Eggs - those were the exact same bubblegum that I had asked for when we were in the shop at the lookout point and that they had said no to. They had actually bought them for us when they thought we were never going to return to them safely.

Other incidents occurred during my first trip to Europe. That was my first trip overseas alone, without my parents. Being naive and unaware, I indulged myself in the European culture, trying to live the life that I always saw on TV and yearned for. Earl Grey tea, fine chocolates, going to markets, wearing winter coats and leather boots... Nothing in my mind said "Danger". I went wherever I wanted to, at whatever time I wanted to, and nothing happened to me. It never occurred to me that "nothing happened to me" because God was protecting me, that my family was praying for me back home. Everything just seemed to go so smoothly. On the day Holland changed to Daylight Saving Time as winter approached, I had to go to a group member's house for a project meeting. We were supposed to meet at 1pm. That day, winds in Northern Europe also whipped up a storm, making it treacherous weather to be out on the streets. Trains and buses in Rotterdam came to a standstill, shops were closed, and weather reports were constantly warning people to stay in. But the meeting was important - we had to rehearse for our business plan presentation competition the next day. Thinking nothing of those warnings, I packed my laptop into my backpack, and walked out of the door into the strong winds. Walking against the wind is no joke; I was pushed back with every step I take. Since the buses were not running, I had to walk the entire way to my friend's apartment. It was a pleasant experience I would say. I never experienced that in Singapore, and probably never will if I continue to stay in Singapore. I was delighted at having the opportunity to experience it. As I walked, tree branches swayed above, moving in concordance with the wind. Then suddenly, with a crack, the tree in front of me crashed. It was a tall thin tree, about 4-5 metres in height and it lay inches away from me, blocking my path. Since I was already dealing with the wind, I didn't think too much of it and just stepped aside and walked around it to get to where I was going with single-mindedness. It is only now, after reading the book, that I realize that it was probably God protecting me. If not, it will be me under the tree, and not the pavement.

It is interesting how despite the shelves of books in SKS, the section that I was drawn to was that of the Apologetics. All the three books that I got apart from the Bible were from that section. I guess it must be because of all the bombardment that I get from Christians (should I be surprised?) and non-Christians that makes me want to defend my faith and my God. I've had many questions about Christianity that could not be answered, and finding that section was finding the answers to my questions.