Fluke or fate

Tonight, I met a business man who told me he is rarely at a loss for words.  Yet, recently, when bush fires burned out of control in rural Victoria, Australia, that all changed.  He ventured out to an area under threat because it was near where he owns property.  His instinct was to save it.   Most people he knew thought he was crazy. Rather than run away to escape, he chose to walk right into the fire. If you've ever known anyone who has said anything like this when bush fires are raging out of control, then you know that this could mean taking one's life into one's own hands.  Firemen do what they can, but at a certain point of no return, when fires blaze out of control, staying or leaving is ultimately a property owner's choice.

This man to whom I spoke is in his mid-sixties and he owns a general store in a particular remote town. Its a historic site and has much sentimental value for him and his family. As he was making his way there, he struggled to breathe in thick smoke.  He heard about people in the community losing their homes amidst 230 degree temperatures. He was aghast at the cinders he passed, yet he adamantly continued to travel toward his property. He saw firemen backburning along the way.

He remained convinced that if he let fear take over, then misfortune would be imminent. Somewhere in his past, he remembered hearing that a coward dies many times before his actual death.  This would be a mental suffering. His temperament refused to permit him to think that way. Instead, he extinguished his fear like he envisioned the firemen would extinguish the fires.  He told himself nothing would frighten him. He moved forward when most people turned back.

To this day, he has no idea how he found courage to forge on when people were fleeing.  When he finally arrived at the site of his general store, everything around this structure had burned down. This property was the only thing left standing.  Many people look at the situation and feel it was impossible. The owner decided angels must've intervened. Inside that store were priceless family albums and items of sentimental value which could never have been replaced. Now, he won't have to make the effort. He is more grateful than he ever was. He believes in miracles.

The owner of this store doesn't consider himself a spiritual man. However, this experience renewed his faith in Forces beyond him for which he has no explanation. He is pleased to still run that general store that has been in his family for generations. Funny how the old town is being rebuilt around it already when originally, it had emerged later after the people, the other way around.