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A Visit from Jesus ˗
Divine Intervention on the Ocean on Christmas Day
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This
is a true story and I'm lucky to be alive to tell it. At the end decide for
yourself who really helped me.
It was Christmas Day, 1998. I was living near the Pacific coast just north of
the UCSB campus. My children were grown and came by for an early morning visit
and by 11am the house was empty; I had the rest of the day to myself. Since it was nearly 70F. outside, I
decided to walk across the bluffs and down to the beach, seen in the photos in
this story.
Against the cliffs sand has accumulated and you can walk for miles and miles at
low tide. With the warm midday sun, I dressed in jeans, tee shirt, walking
shoes and wool socks.
The tide was still out and the protruding rocks were very tempting to walk on,
just as you see in the photos. So, I carefully walked out about 300 feet and
then turned around to look back to shore. To my horror the waves that I had
noticed washing by me were the incoming tide. My beach near the cliffs was
nowhere to be seen, only the tips of the rocks I had
carefully walked out on were visible.
Panic
set in as I wondered and tried to plan how I could get back to shore with just
those scattered rocks showing. The ocean was too cold to swim in without a wet
suit the end of December and there was no way to swim over the rocks, anyway,
getting caught in a crag was a danger.
I felt panic and desperation rising because I had put myself in such a
dangerous position, and hadn't checked the low and high tide tables before
walking down to the beach.
As a last ditch try I faced out to the ocean horizon, closed my eyes, prayed to
God to give me guidance within the next 2 minutes, or I would have to surrender
myself to the surf in an attempt to reach shore.
When I opened my eyes there was a man standing 20 feet in front of me.
Of
course I couldn't believe how this could be. He appeared in his late 20s, early
30s with long dark brown hair, dressed in khaki Bermuda shorts, no shirt, no
shoes.
I asked him where he came from and he said he was a
biologist visiting UC Santa Barbara from UC Santa Cruz. That seemed plausible.
He said that if I would follow in his footsteps he would lead me safely to
shore. I did not question him.
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Where did he really come from? How could he
appear out there in the ocean when 2 minutes before no one was around? How
could he have gotten out there in the ocean on only rock points, like the
tips of small icebergs? Without shoes how could he keep steady on the
slippery rocks? |
The
man turned in a westerly direction, parallel to the coast and we began our
'follow the leader' trek. I concentrated intently step by step as we made our
way in the ocean without seeming to get nearer to land. As we walked like this
for 3 hours the distance between us gradually lengthened. Then, ahead to our
right I saw how I could reach the sandy beach of Dos Pueblos Christmas Tree
Farm.
I lost sight of my guide as he turned a bend in the coast. Firmly and
thankfully on dry land I asked a ranch hand who was walking nearby to drive me
home.
The journey had lasted 3 hours on the ocean and I never fell in though my
shoes, socks and lower pants legs were wet. I was definitely cold from the
effects of the ocean water.
But, I was safe.
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Afterthoughts |
Who
was this guide who appeared out of nowhere and saved my life on Christmas Day
1998? And I think about his choice of words to follow in his footsteps as
having a deeper, spiritual meaning.
Looking
back I find it remarkable that he practically skipped over the rocks ahead of
me as we headed in the direction opposite of the university.
I do believe that the Divine appears to us in our hour of need in the form
necessary at the time.
If an angel with wings had suddenly appeared in front of me in the ocean I
would probably have died of fright. But the young athletic form of a physical
man gave me confidence to follow.
My ecumenical Christian roots allow me to be open to the fact it may have been
our beloved Lord Jesus Christ, incarnate, or a yoga master serving humanity
such as Babaji, who is said to be living on earth
with a small band of disciples who bodily dematerialize and reappear from place
to place. Or maybe this was an angel taking on a convincing physical body for
this service?
When I got home I took a hot shower to get
warm, then I emailed my step-father about my experience; he firmly impressed on
me not to go down to the ocean alone again. I knew I was lucky to be saved.
Since that incident I continue to marvel at the depth and richness in the
spectrum of life – Susan Helene Kramer
NEW ˗
Further afterthoughts, 20 years later: When telling this story to my husband, he said that
Santa Cruz can mean Holy Cross. I now think it was Jesus who led me over the
ocean to the safety of the shore. I remember he also said to follow in his
footsteps, a further confirmation of his identity as Jesus. I feel very blessed
and every more firmly on my spiritual quest.
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A Visit from Jesus ˗Divine
Intervention on the Ocean on Christmas Day |
About the Author: Susan Kramer is a graduate of
Peabody Institute Preparatory Dance of Johns Hopkins University, and a former Peabody
Institute, Jacob’s Pillow, and Baltimore Opera Company dancer. Currently she is
a classical yoga teacher and international
author and lives with her husband, Stan Schaap,
in The Netherlands. Her web site is http://www.susankramer.com
and email susan@susankramer.com