OPINION

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The unexplained

Others frequently share what they believe were signs of a mystical presence in their lives, whether it be from divine intervention or guardian angels.

I understand, as I've also had several inexplicable experiences over the years and suspect you've likely had some, too. If so, let me know details.

Tell-tale rainbow

Thomas Rousey of Fayetteville said that years ago he and his family were living in Jonesboro and having issues with their teenage son, so problematic they'd sought family counseling.

As a computer technician, his job led him across much of northeast Arkansas.

When returning from a repair job in Mountain Home in the rain, he often took alternate routes on return trips to Jonesboro.

"On this day, I was somewhere east of Walnut Ridge on a country road when the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to the west," he said. "I saw a single building off in the distance when there occurred the most perfectly shaped, beautiful rainbow.

"One leg of the rainbow fell on the building, illuminating what turned out to be a small white country church. It didn't occur to me until much later that this was a message from God that he had heard my prayers and everything would be all right.

"And, sure enough, it was!

"I still see that country church when I kneel to pray. Today, I'm praying for your speedy recovery! I look forward to reading your columns, so please keep writing!"

Savior amid fires

Peter Hartstein of Little Rock wrote: "Dear Mr. Masterson, I always read your column, which is very good. I wanted to send you an experience that I had on July 26, 1944, in Stuttgart, Germany. I am a naturalized citizen and arrived in Little Rock on Dec. 1, 1947.

"On July 26, 1944, our family was in our apartment when a bombing raid occurred. We made a decision to leave and go outside, where we discovered the entire area, for several blocks in each direction, was on fire.

"We didn't know in which direction to go. At that moment someone with a wagon came along and loaded us on, then threw some wet blankets over us and got us to safety, which was only one block away. But we could not have known that because all of the buildings were on fire.

"The next day my sister asked our mother, 'Who was that man with the wagon?' Mother answered, 'God sent an angel!' That was no coincidence!"

Sensed son's danger

A reader who asked to be identified as a friend in Arkansas wrote to say that 28 years ago he'd been preoccupied with a project when an inexplicable sense of terror surged through him.

"I looked at my watch and saw it was 1:08 p.m. I knew something was terribly wrong.

"I was nearly frozen physically and my mind was frozen from panic and terror. After maybe 15 or 20 seconds, it went away.

"In another two or three minutes I was at complete peace. I realized something had occurred out of the ordinary, but also didn't give it much more thought.

"At dinner that night in Malvern, my oldest son, who had pulled a fifth-wheel trailer to pick up a load for me in Fort Smith, casually mentioned he'd had a problem coming back home.

"He said his load was top-heavy and he blew a right front tire and locked the brakes, which pulled him off the highway down through a ditch and up an embankment until he could steer into a field without turning it over.

"After recovering, he saw a farmer plowing two fields over in the distance, and asked him to tow him back to the road. I said, you could have been killed. He said he thought so, too.

"Then I asked what time this happened. Having purchased food a few minutes earlier, he pulled the receipt from his pocket and said it would have been a few minutes after 1 p.m.

"Mike, I knew the exact time it was happening. I have had one or two other people I was close to with whom I can occasionally connect this way on trivial things. But nothing of this magnitude.

"I have thought about it many times and how this could happen. We know there are five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, which is how we know anything is happening around us. What if there are more senses we're unaware of?"

Voice shouts 'wait!'

A friend, Ruthie O'Neal, tells of the time she'd pulled to a stop sign and was about to follow her usual practice of stomping on the gas and pulling away quickly as the light changed when a disembodied voice from inside the car clearly and loudly said, "Wait!"

She hesitated momentarily, just as a dump truck came barreling through the intersection and would have broadsided her where she otherwise would have been.

"I can't explain it, but it happened, and that mysterious voice probably saved my life," she said.


Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].


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