Today I would like to share part of a talk from Bishop H. David Burton in which he discussed the 1999 head-on collision which occurred on a remote highway in Western Australia that almost took the life of Australian art critic Robert Hughes.
"Charlie Fishhook, an Aborigine, came upon the accident scene and sounded the critical alarm for help. A friend, Danny O'Sullivan, upon hearing of the accident, used his radio and cell phone to summon help from the nearest town, seventy-five miles away. He then raced to Robert's side to reassure him that assistance was on its way. Aborigines of the Bidyadanga people formed a semicircle around the car and chanted a prayerful song. A Filipina nurse from the Bidyadanga settlement comforted his badly broken body until police and medics airlifted him to the Royal Perth Hospital. Skilled physicians operated for thirteen hours to carefully restore his body. His loving and deeply concerned family arrived from the United States to keep vigil until he awoke from a thirty-day coma."
After the accident, he made some remarks in an article in Time magazine using this experience to try and further his point that God does not exist. He stated, in essence, that since Jesus Christ was not there to welcome him to "the other side," neither He nor God must be real. This article elicited some replies that I would like to share with you:
"A perceptive gentleman by the name of Pedro Costa from Portugal wrote: 'I would like to ask [Robert Hughes] if he also didn't see Christ among the Aborigine family that found him, the Bidyadanga people who chanted to keep him alive, the Filipina nurse who wept for him, his friend Danny who raced to save his life, the police and the medics who got to the scene, the medical personnel who decided to fly him to Royal Perth Hospital, the people who operated for 13 hours - or in the midst of relatives and friends who gave him the support and affection he talks about in his article. Hughes just might have missed Jesus in such a crowd.'
"From Stellenbosch, South Africa, Marius J. DeWaal profoundly wrote: 'Robert Hughes said of his near-death experience that Jesus didn't show. But one cannot expect to find Christ in death if one has not known him in life."
I can testify that our Father in Heaven and our older brother Jesus Christ live and that they love us. I have felt their love in my life. I have seen prayers answered, and I know that they are real. The answers, however, often come through others, just as Mr. Costa stated, and in fact, there may be times when we are that answer. To the second letter, I would agree that those who have not sought will not find, just as much as those who do seek will find the Savior.
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