A converted Chinese man testified, “In my confused state in the depths of despair, I was down in a deep pit, sunk in the mire, crying for someone to help me out. As I looked about, I thought I saw a venerable gray-haired man looking down at me.”
“My son,” said he, “this is a dreadful place.”
“Yes,” I answered. “I fell into it; can’t you help me out?”
“My son,” was his reply, “I am Confucious. If you had read my books and followed what they taught, you would never have been here.”
“Yes,” I said, “but can’t you help me out?” But as I looked, he was gone.
Soon I saw another form approaching, and another man bent over me, this time with closed eyes and folded arms. He seemed to be looking to some far-off place.
“My son,” Buddha said, “just close your eyes and fold your arms and forget all about yourself. Get into a state of rest. Don’t think about anything that can disturb. Get so still that nothing can move you. Then, my child, you will be in such delicious rest as I am.”
“Yes,” I answered. “I will when I am above ground. Can’t you help me out?” But Buddha too was gone.
I was just beginning to sink into despair when I saw another figure above me, different from the others. There were marks of suffering on His face. I cried out to Him, “O Father! Can you help me?”
“Dear one,” He said, “what is the matter?”
Before I could answer Him, He was down in the mire by my side. He folded His arms about me and lifted me out of the abyss and set me on a solid foundation; then He fed me and rested me. When I was well, He did not say, “Now don’t do that again,” but instead said, “We will walk on together now”; and we have been walking together until this day.
Author: D.L. Moody
