A NEW LIFE

One of the most widely viewed Internet videos last year was of a terrifying attack on a baby Cape buffalo along the Kruger River in South Africa. The “Battle at Kruger” video shows a pack of lions dragging the baby buffalo to the ground. A crocodile then erupts from the water and snaps its jaws around the buffalo’s legs, and a tug of war ensues with the lions besting the crocodile for the buffalo.

Then, something miraculous happens. The baby’s herd returns, and some of the animals lower their heads to use their horns to pick the lions off the baby.

After a few moments, the miracle is complete. The lions retreat, and the baby buffalo, which had seemed limp and unconscious, rises and scampers back to its mother and the herd.

For Christians, this episode has to be more than a fluke of the African savannah caught on film. The episode depicts a vicious attack on an innocent individual, a literal descent into hell followed by what can only be called a new life.

The video reminds me of this past year when both my mother and father spent days in comas but came back from their close brushes with death. Similarly, my brother-in law’s fiancée spent days in an unresponsive state following a ruptured brain aneurysm, but is home and doing remarkably.

For 48 hours after her stroke, my mother could not speak; she could barely move or open her eyes. Then suddenly, on Thanksgiving morning, she awoke with no apparent physical or cognitive impairment. My 83-year-old father, who was hospitalized for nearly two months after suffering a brain injury from a fall while doing yard work on the day after Easter, has made a dramatic recovery.

During each of these illnesses, we asked people to pray. I know most of them summoned many more. The power of prayer is great. Although I somehow knew each of them would pull through, I comforted myself in the knowledge that there is a rebirth and a new life waiting for all of us.

Does that mean the baby Cape buffalo will someday have eternal life? All I know is that you do not have to be a great theologian to see that the animal’s dramatic rescue touched something basic in millions. In many ways, that baby already has found eternal life. It is the life story of deliverance. Of answered prayers. Of faith.

— Michael York

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist