I was being taken on a holiday with a friend of my
mother and his wife. My mother was a single my mum working full time,
so it was good for her to have somewhere to send her kids away during
school hols, particularly since she didn't have any family in this
country. They were all in Europe. Anyway this was the holiday of a
lifetime for me, as I don't remember
going anywhere else nearly as interesting before then. We were going
on a camping trip around NSW in a Volkswagon combi-van.
We
left Sydney in the van and as we were driving over the blue mountains a
bee was blown into the passenger window where I was sitting and I was
stung. To me this was synchronicity in hindsight considering what
was to come. Anyway I put on a big song and dance, crying, moaning and
being very fearful about what had just happened. Westy the driver and
also a kind of adopted uncle to my family, stopped the van, got out
and came around to my side and sucked out the sting, as well as making a
comment that the bee had died in the process of stinging me, so it
wasn't so bad for me given that perspective.
We drove
for long distances, camping along the way, with Westy sleeping outside
under the stars and/or in a small tent, and me and his wife Annie
sleeping together in the back of the van. His wife was semi paralysed
after having had a stroke that she never fully recovered from when she
was a lot younger. We drove further and further out into the
Australian outback and for me it was an amazing thing to see all the
land stretching for miles out everywhere, red and almost lifeless in
some places with blue hazy mirages on the horizons. Finally we got to
Cobar and Broken Hill and then we made our way back down towards
Victoria, down the Darling River or there abouts. I remember seeing the
Darling River at several points and finally we ended up in Echuca
which was at the time a township in the Murray River, on the border of
NSW and Victoria, where the Darling met the Murray or close to that
point. I had a swim in the Murray although I couldn't swim, but
enjoyed romping around in the cool water etc.
We then
drove along the Murray, making our way towards Albury and after Albury
we drove up north west to a big country town called Yass. We then drove
to Bowning which was a small village just outside of Yass. Not sure
if it was part of Yass, as I was only 13 or 14 years old then (possibly
somewhere in between) and it was approximately 1958. Anyway Westy
had some close friends living on a cattle station in Bowning and we
stayed with them for about 3 weeks. These people had a cattle station
which ran sheep and cattle and a huge property with a creek running
through it. They also owned the butcher shop in Bowning where they
sold some of their meat, as well as having an abattoir just outside
from the Bowning village, half way between the village and their home.
I
was allowed free reign and I was given a little job of taking care of a
few animals which made me feel important and it was fun. They also
had heaps of fruit trees and the apricots were in season. I made
myself sick on them eating too many in one go. Anyway one day I was
taken to the abattoir to be shown how they make sausages. After that
Westy told me I could find my own way home if I wanted to so I did. I
don't know how I knew where I was going, but I decided to take a short
cut across a huge paddock that had really tall grass and some trees
here and there, as well as being fenced off. I started across the
paddock, after climbing through fences etc; and and then as I got to
about half way across I noticed the paddock was swarming with bees. As
I write this I still feel the shock of what I felt then. As I was
about to react.....but didn't know how, I heard a gentle voice saying
to me 'stay calm and quiet and walk slowly through this to the other
side'. I felt enclosed by some quiet, protective and calming energy,
which I know wasn't mine, yet instinctively knew that I had to follow
these instructions or else. So I quietly walked through this long
grass that was swarming with buzzing bees and the grass was somewhere
up to my waistline. Finally I got to the wooden fence railing on the
other side and quietly climbed through to reach a man made path that
was clear of grass and bees. It was then that this mysterious calming
presence left me and I trembled in the knowledge of what I'd just come
through. I was pretty naive and somewhat immature at the time, so
didn't realise the full impact of what could have happened then to me.
It was only about 40 years later, when I heard on the radio news in
Sydney that a man had been stung to death in his back yard in Stanmore
by bees. Hearing that bees responded or reacted to fear regarding this
tragic accident, I realised probably for the first time how blessed
and fortunate I was to have had a 'guardian angel' watching over me on
that day in 1958. I never told anyone about this experience as a
child. I don't know why not. Perhaps I didn't realise how important
it actually was, although I never forgot it. I did't consciously
comprehend that I could easily have been stung to death on that day if I
had reacted in my normal way, IE same as in the van on leaving Sydney.
I
know now beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we do have guardian angels
and that there is something bigger than ourselves that governs our lives
and destinies. I thank Almighty God for His great mercy on that day
and for allowing me to live out my life, so that I could continue to
grow spiritually and develop as a human being. I have had many other
small miracles along the way and know now that God is real and loves us
as we are.
I guess I could say that that was my first
real spiritual experience that I had, without really knowing it at the
time on a conscious level, although I feel I always knew on a soul
level.
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