Things happen in our lives that some people would try to explain away as a coincidence. Feeling divinity can be subtle, it can just be a connection, or it can be something as powerful as a life saving event that has you on your knees kissing the ground. Here are a few from our fair city and one of my own:
March 1964
On her flight from Bone Algeria to Tripoli Libya, Columbus housewife Jerrie Mock caught a whiff of something burning. This was the ninth leg of her astonishing journey around the world. It was March 31, 1964. Jerrie routinely flew her single engine Cessna overweight because of the large high octane aviation gasoline tanks that were required. They literally sat right beside her in the cabin. The burning smell, therefore, was horrifying. She was over the Sahara Desert. The odor became stronger. Her mind began racing as to what to do. She quickly realized it was the motor to her high frequency radio. She flipped it off. It was, however, inches from one of the big gasoline tanks. The airplane could blow up at any second. She decided to pray. She said the twenty third psalm “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” And that worked. The burning smell went away. The gas tanks did not blow her to bits. “The sun was bright,” she said to herself. “I was still an explorer out to see a glorious untamed world.”
April 2023
It had been a tough first quarter in sales at work. As a company, we know the first quarter is all about breaking even. The tsunami of orders hit once the weather gets hot in late April or early May. It doesn’t make getting through the first quarter any easier. My wife had an important doctor’s appointment on this day. Life was feeling heavy. It was a Monday morning. I walked out to my car and there it was on the driveway and on the grass. A perfectly shaped heart. It was our garden hose that had left a dirt mark on the driveway and had been flipped into the grass to form a perfect heart. I thought Wow! God is sending us love. Times can get tough. Keep the faith. Keep working hard. God is with us. I texted her the picture. A self-made emoji. Thank you, Lord. I love you.
November 1998
American hero John Glenn finally convinced NASA administrator Dan Goldin in late 1997 to allow him to go back up into space to study the effects of aging, provided he pass a physical and all the required training. Glenn did. Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off on October 29, 1998. Hundreds of exams were conducted on the 77-year-old legend by on board physicians. NASA wanted to study the effects of microgravity in space on the human body. They also monitored his heartbeat, blood pressure, balance, sleep patterns and collected regular blood and urine samples. While looking back at the Earth aboard the shuttle, Glenn said “I pray every day. To look at this kind of creation out here and to not believe in God to me is impossible. It just strengthens my faith.”
July 2024
Louisiana born Christian music superstar Lauren Daigle – who sang ‘God Bless America’ with Trombone Shorty at Super Bowl LIX – played the Celeste Center during the Ohio State Fair. Halfway through the show she related the story of her last visit to this very venue. It was seven years earlier and while on stage singing, she said she opened her eyes and saw what she first thought was a very big man with his arms outstretched but then realized his arms stretched the length of the arena. It could only be an angel. She said she had prayed to see an angel and God delivered. She was not sure if anyone else there saw the angel but everyone there who listened to her story believed it. To me, it was God’s sign to her that she is doing exactly what she is meant to be doing.
April 2025
A close friend of mine who is an indefatigable servant of God, was driving home from vacation with his wife on Good Friday. I just happened to ask him what he typically does to show his faith on Good Friday. He told me he typically goes to mass or attends the stations of the cross but is very cognizant of the hour of 3:00pm that day because that is when Jesus was crucified. This Good Friday, however, as I mentioned he was in the car with his wife driving home. At precisely 3:00pm, he says, they hit a tunnel and immediate darkness. Of course, a very short time later they came out of the tunnel to a bright light. The exact timing of this event was purely divine and got him emotional as he retold it.
Our featured picture of the statue of Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) was taken by Columbus, Ohio-born world traveler Daniel Krajnak on Friday, Dec 19, 2025. The statue sits on the summit of Mount Corcovado, overlooking Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil and after nine years of construction, it was dedicated on October 12, 1931. The statue stands 98 feet tall with outstretched arms that go 92 feet. Christ the Redeemer’s cost was around $250,000 ($3.4 million today) and it was funded almost entirely by the local Catholic community. The statue sits within the Tijuca National Park – a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and one of the largest urban rainforests in the world. Christ the Redeemer is struck by lightning on average 3 to 6 times per year and costs more than $1 million annually to maintain. Just seeing this picture has me feeling divinity.
God loves you. Merry Christmas!!
Sources: Three-Eight Charlie by Jerrie Mock, 1970; The Wingmen by Adam Lazurus, 2023; Lauren Daigle concert, July 29, 2024, Celeste Center; Christ the Redeemer statue, Mount Corcovado, Brazil by Lorraine Murray, Nov 10, 2025, www.britannica.com; Christ the Redeemer: 12 facts about Brazil’s beloved monument by Go Ahead Tours team, www.goaheadtours.com.