Saved from river rapids
Last summer my husband, son, and I rented a condo for a week at a ski resort in Colorado. On the way to our destination, we stopped in Durango. We spotted a “raft the river” sign and decided we would float part of the Animas River for a couple of hours.
A bus took the three of us to a calm part of the river, where we got onto a six-person raft. We were warmly dressed with rain gear, rubber suits, and life preservers. Our guide stressed the importance of this extra protection as the river was only 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
Our family, a guide, and a helper proceeded down the river. We commented that due to the snow melt, the current seemed unusually fast. About 20 minutes into our trip, we hit a huge rapid, which flipped our raft and tossed all five of us into the raging current. Everyone fell in the water in different directions, and I found myself under the raft. I fought the water to get out from underneath and finally freed myself. But as I tried to reach the surface, the rapids kept pushing me under.
For a moment, I thought I was drowning. Then an angel thought came to me: that since God is my Life and God is All, my life is intact in this cold water, as it is anywhere else. With that thought I surfaced and got a big gulp of air. I heard the guide yelling for me to try to get to the capsized raft and hold on. I was able to do this. He jumped on the overturned raft and pulled me onto the slick rubber bottom of the craft, then jumped back in the river and started searching for the rest of our party.
I found myself alone, floating down the river at a very fast pace with nothing to guide me or control the direction my raft was taking. Since I seemed to be alone and at the mercy of a surging current, I recalled the article “God’s Law of Adjustment” by Adam H. Dickey (The Christian Science Journal, January 1916), which states, “If a man were drowning in mid-ocean with apparently no human help at hand, there is a law of God which, when rightly appealed to, would bring about his rescue.” I looked around and thought, “This is exactly my situation!” I had no control over my raft, and there did not seem to be any human help available. But I knew there was a spiritual law that would save me, even though I did not know at that moment what it was.
After going through two more sets of rapids and bouncing off a few boulders, I heard a voice beside my raft. A man in a kayak paddled up to me from out of nowhere. He asked me if I was OK, and I replied that I was. Then from the riverbank I saw an employee from the rafting company. He had been driving his truck down a road near the river looking for me. He yelled that he would throw me a line. Although it landed too far from the raft for me to catch, the current pushed me just close enough to the shore that I was able to reach out and grab a tree branch. I held on to the branch until the man could reach for the raft and pull me onto the shore. We then had to climb up a steep hill of boulders. This was difficult because I was exhausted, but I declared to myself, “God is my strength.”
I inquired about my husband and son and was informed that they too had been rescued—as had the guide and helper. Each of them had been tossed into the current, but they had been able to swim across and get to shore. They had also felt the protecting presence of God. Since we were totally drenched in cold water, the owner of the company gave us some dry clothes. He expressed amazement that we were so calm and did not sustain any injuries.
Thinking back on this experience, I recall feeling so certain that nothing could separate me from God. Even though I seemed to be in an out-of-control situation, God was right there with me. My gratitude is overflowing for the protection we received. Even though we each had different experiences in the river, one thing was obvious: God’s protection and control is always in operation.
Jean Wynant
Surprise, Arizona, US
