cc: file, Grandma Hafen via Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, Claude and Katherine Warner, and Lloyd and Luana Warner.
"Wednesday I received the following e-mail from Ben:
What a wonderful story. Even though the scientists in me says it might be just a story and wants to meet Lloyd Glen and check out how true it all is, the story fits my model of the universe. I was particularly struck by the comment about some of the birdies wearing green and white, and it reminded me how Ken Turner painted the trees in my painting to form a type of apron for the St. George Temple where all of the angels are drawn traveling back and forth between heaven and earth (see `Prime Words' (http://www.walden3d.com/w3d/prime_words/paintings/small_VII.gif). I do believe there are angels, or what the story calls birdies, among us.
Seven chronological examples from my own life, three tied to horse wrecks, one to a near farm accident, and three to a car wrecks will hopefully illustrate the depth of my conviction of how `birdies' are watching over us.
First: When I was young, maybe 10 years old, I had a horse accident at Calf Springs Ranch. I was staying there with Glenn and his first wife Connie. We had gone up to the Upper Meadow to get some cows, and I was riding Old Buck. Grandpa Hafen reminded me many times, over the following years how I must not have had the reigns tight enough. The horse got spooked, probably by a rattlesnake, and took off across the sagebrush and rocks towards the gate just south of the garage. I couldn't stop him, and somehow stayed on until he stopped for a fence. I went over Old Buck's head and landed on a big flat volcanic rock. I was out cold. I don't know how long it took Glenn to find me, to take me to the house, to drive 7 miles to Enterprise and to call Mom, to drive the 45 miles to Cedar City, or for the Doctors to look at me. I remember waking up in the hospital in Cedar City and asking for a drink of water. Then I remember waking up the next day in my bed out on the farm. I remember being very glad to be alive.
Second: I had two significant accidents on the one horse I had as a colt, and personally broke. I didn't do a very good job of breaking the horse. He never got to where, when I turned him towards the corrals and he started for home, I could not stop him. This would have been when I was about 14 or 15. The first accident happened when someone (probably me) shut the gate into the feed yard. I don't remember the horse's name. However, I remember when he hit that gate at a full gallop, threw his head back into my face, smashed my glasses, and gave me a six or eight stitch scar in my left eyebrow. Explain to me how there was not a piece of broken glass in my eye, if there are no birdies? As I look back on this event and consider the importance of sight in all of the work I do, it is absolutely amazing there was nothing but a cut and a trip to the hospital.
Third: The second accident with this horse happened the same summer, when I rode him down to the grainery to get grain for my stockshow calf. I was on him bareback. He ran away again, only this time he had to stop because there was this big cement building in the way. When he stopped, I went right over his head and landed on my head. Steve Lovell was watching the whole comedy from out in the fields where he was turning the irrigation water. I remember him running over, all worried, and me getting up, dizzy. He said, `You sure have a hard head.' Think what happend to Christopher Reeves (Superman) with a no more serious throw.
Fourth: Probably a year later, Ray Gardner came out to visit me on the farm. We needed to move one of the plows, and I put Ray in the drivers seat of the tractor. I was holding up the hitch on the plow so he could ease the tractor back into it, I could drop the pin in, and it would be hooked up. His foot slipped off of the clutch and the tractor jumped back and hit the hitch very hard. I don't remember everything that happened, I just remember feeling like my had was moved out of the way. I also remember being very upset at Ray for almost causing a most serious accident.
Fifth: When I was 16 or maybe 17 and driving The Red Apple (.../9832.html), I had my most serious accident. Dad and I had gone fishing up Right Hand Canyon at Kolob Reservoir the Friday before. We had lost a bumper or a jack out of the pickup, and I wanted to go back and see if I could find it. On Thursday Dad always delivered meat down in St. George, and points in between. He must of got off early, because I did not go with him on this Thursday. I also must have finished my chores early, because Charlie Garfield, myself, and two girls went up the canyon in The Red Apple to see if we could find the missing equipment. We didn't find it, and close to dusk we headed back down the mountain. There was a sprinkle of rain. I was driving with one arm around the girl with me. The power steering helped me too much and I over compensated when the car skidded a little on the wet gravel road. The car skidded with the passenger side downhill, and rolled 360 degrees, landing back on it's wheels. We did not have seat belts on. The girl with me, who was a cousin of one of the girls in my class, hit her head on the back side window and broke the glass. The front windshield popped out. There were no serious injuries. It was a tank, and in that sense we were very well protected. However, in looking back, I can't help but feel there were `birdies' watching over us.
Sixth: Grandma called in about February of 1969 and asked if I would drive a new yellow Cadilac she had bought to St. George for her. She went on to say, if Ray Gardner rode down with me she would buy us both plane tickets on Hugh's Airwest back to Salt Lake. How could two homesick freshman turn that down? So we picked up the car after school on Friday evening and headed out for Cedar City. We did not check the weather. There was no problem until we pulled out of the little town of Holden, just past Filmore. As I accelerated the car started to spin on black ice, went around in a circle, and stopped with the front bumper against a little grassy hill. As we pulled the grass off of the bumper, all of a sudden there was a real concern about the responsiblity of driving this brand new, very, very expensive car to Cedar City. The car did not have snow tires, and it was just starting to drizzle and snow. Obviously the road was already iced over. As we continued through the Beaver Mountains, the drizzle turned into a blizzard. There were a couple of times the car was almost going sideways. However, I was a pretty good driver, we slowed way down, and were slowly making our way OK. As we were going down the big hill just before Cove Fort, the snow was so thick we could not see a car length in front of ourselves. All of a sudden Raymond started to yell there is a semi-truck coming right at us from the back. I was afraid to hit the brake, and instinctively shifted down the gear. It acted like a break and the back of the car spun to the right, allowing the truck to barely miss that corner. The wind from the truck probably pushed the car to the side enough it didn't hit us. As it passed we both were completely frazzled. We limped on into Beaver, where I called Dad and told him we were going to spend the night in a motel in Beaver. He asked `Why?' saying `The stars are out here.' So we got back in the car and drove to Cedar. Both of us felt like we had been saved by our guardian angels. Having experienced it, I do not see how it could just be luck. It was the `birdies.'
Seventh: When I was in Ipswich on my mission I had an accident. Because it is late I will not look up the exact date in my journal. It was probably in about March of 1971. I had been out about 5 months, and the brakes on my bike were getting worn. We would put 30+ miles a day on our bikes. This day we were late for an appointment out on Whitten Church Lane, and so we were hurrying in the light rain on the inside of a line of cars next to the sidewalk. (Remember they drive on the opposite side of the street in England as we do.) As we went along, I was in front, and a white Volkswagon turned left into a sidestreet without signaling. I was right there and hit the back of his front fender, went over the hood, and made a four point landing (two hands, one knee, and my chin). So much for that suit. The abrassions on my hands hurt, and were bearable. The 12 stitches in my chin could have been much more serious without the softening help of the `birdies.' We taught a half a dozen lessons to nurses and others at the hospital. As an aside, since taking PAIRS, I've wondered if these head injuries have had other impacts on my life.
Surely there are those who will say `It is just ego to think you were not just lucky in each of the seven examples you recalled. Your luck has just run out the last few years in other areas of your life" (the HyperMedia failure, the divorce, etc.). Surely there are there are those who will say `It was your genetic makeup and the environment you grew up in which allowed you to be able to handle these (and other) experiences, as well as you have.' Please listen with your heart to the next words your mind perceives, which is another way of me sharing my testimony of angels or birdies: `I know my life has been extended. I believe this has been because I can be of service to my God! I recognize His hand in my life. Accordingly I have dedicated my life to serving Him and His work. I made this commitment back in 1968, and inspite of all of my weaknesses, I continue to strive to provide this service.' Do you know in your heart this is true? You do, if you are listening to perception.
If I am as intense as Roice's friend Rick implied by his question to my Sister (.../9829.html), it is because I value life. I see this same intensity with my friends who served in the Israeli services. You kids know David, who was a tank commander the last time Israel and Lebonon went after each other. He was 15 miles behind enemy lines and within a couple of miles of Arafat's headquarters when he was stopped (and this was before the other side even knew they were being attacked). Those I know who have put their life on the line for others believe in divine guidance, or `birdies.' They might be Mormon, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddist. They might even be agnostic. They see and feel something outside themselves. For me, maybe it is because my Dad and both of my Grandfathers were taken early, two from cancer tied to the atomic tests (.../9802.html) and one from a farm accident (.../9805.html). Whatever the reason, I know I consider life a gift, and I am glad to stive to live it life the fullest possible measure. I'm glad to be intense.
Monday I met with Ed Rogers and Ken Turner about turning HGOL (Heritage Galleries On-Line: http://www.walden3d.com/hgol) into a real business. I had never given Ed a copy of the prints, and he was suitably impressed (Melanie, thanks for making up the new packets). We had a long call with MuSE in Albequerque in the afternoon about the SEG demonsrations. I want more to happen than is possible by the 13th of September. Tuesday we had our staff meeting, the SEG team meeting, then continued our staff meeting for another hour and a half. Wednesday I went downtown and met with Wulf and Rick. I'm trying to put together a joint venture where our Service Center, Wulf's processing team, and Rick's exploration team all benefit. I worked quite late on Tuesday and Thursday evenings doing interpretations for the demonstrations. Rob came to dinner and Family Home Evening on Monday and we went to dinner on Wednesday before Young Men's. Friday I left the house at 5:15 AM, drove to Intercontinental, flew to Tulsa, got wrong directions as to how to get to Bartlesville, drove 40 miles in the wrong direction and drove faster than the `birdies' to get to Phillips offices only 20 minutes late, gave a two hour presentation to about 35 people, had lunch with the bosses, drove back to Tulsa, met with 3 researchers at BP-Amoco research (is everyone aware BP is purchasing Amoco?), worked on mail and other stuff at the airport until the battery ran out, flew back to Houston, and got to the house about 9:45 PM to fill up the water tubes for the new water bed upstairs. Rob and Joe helped me.
Saturday it rained and so I didn't go for a run. Larry and Ben and I helped Mike Smith move some couches and refrigerators. It was kind of a bait and switch, and the hour job turned into three hours. Oh well! It was fun to do some service with Ben. Ben, Sarah, Rob, Joe, and I went to lunch at The Original Pasta Company, went to Saturn to talk about a car for Ben and Sarah, went to the movie `Do you want to dance,' and went to The Marble Slab for ice cream. I went to the grocery store after we got back. Today was David Grua's missionary farewell. I played and sang the song I have written on the first 6 chapters of Job to Rob. He fell asleep. It has been a quite, and yet a busy week. I got the longest letter yet from Paul on Tuesday, and I have intended everyday to write you an equally long response. Oh well! Rob didn't want to read it because it started out `This is not a family letter.' Paul, Sarah read it and was suprised about how strong you reacted to she just saw as advise. Ben also read it, and didn't give any comments. In case anyone else feels like Paul, and for everyone's information, I am not sitting in a pool of self pity. I hope these thoughlets demonstrate that. I hope I can hear the birdies talking to my heart when there is something one of you needs to hear and that something I write will be of benefit to you. I love each of you with all my heart.'