When You Pray

A young man who comes from a conservative Christian tradition, tells the story of the time when he was training to be a paratrooper. He was being prepared for his first jump. The instructor explained that when he jumped out of the plane the parachute would open automatically. If by some mischance it didn’t open, all he had to do was pull the rip chord attached to the emergency chute. “But what if the emergency chute doesn’t open?” the trainee asked. “In that case,” said the instructor, “just say ‘Buddha be praised’ and everything will be all right.” Well, as a Christian, the young man wasn’t too happy with that formula. Nevertheless he went up in the plane and he jumped and the parachute didn’t open automatically. Quickly he pulled the emergency rip chord and still nothing happened. In desperation he cried out, “Buddha be praised,” and a huge hand came out of a cloud and caught him. He wiped the perspiration from his brow,…