by Bill Koeneke
With regard to my previous Forum and those events in my life, which clearly indicated that I had been predestined and foreknown as one of those whom God would eventually call and in the meantime would protect from the vagaries of time and chance, I offer one additional incident that proves the point.
In 1952 I took a week’s holiday in Bermuda, flying from New York. On the way back I flew on one of BOAC’s Stratacruisers. On the plane were Shirley Temple and her husband (surname Black). I recognized her immediately, but of course she didn’t know me from Adam. Having worked in a cinema for 5 years, I had seen a number of her films. On returning home about halfway to New York, we hit a rather violent storm. The plane was jumping up and down like a yo-yo. Dishes and silverware and some luggage and other things were flying about the cabin. Really quite scary! Suddenly the plane was hit by a bolt of lightning, and the whole inside of the cabin lit up like a fluorescent bulb!! I probably thought, “This is it!” However within ten minutes or so, we plunged through that storm into calmer weather and landed safely in New York. Whew!
On hindsight it has become obvious to me, once again I had been protected from premature death, and for that I offer God my heartfelt thanks for His very special blessing—and so should we all in the face of our individual experiences as we carry out our special mission of doing the Work of God under the cloak of His protective arm.
