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Topic: Illustrate the meaning of "Every Dark Cloud has a Silver Lining" (without using the actual phrase or literal example). (02/28/08)
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TITLE: The Black Day That Had a Golden Edge | Previous Challenge Entry
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03/01/08 -
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In 1955 we were serving with a missionary society in Hungary and were preparing for an itinerary in the Czech Republic, when we had a serious motor accident. News of this reached Australia and a friend ‘phoned us asking, “Why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen to you?”
Elaine: I remember travelling along a side street in Budapest, then suddenly, -screaming, blackness, nothing. Some time later I felt very cold and out of the darkness a voice saying “Elaine, you’ve been in a car accident”. It meant very little to me; I was not able to process the thought. Then blackness again.
Lindsay: We had been travelling by car into Budapest when a speeding taxi, approaching from our right, hit us and carried us across the intersection. We were both knocked unconscious, but Elaine, in the passenger’s seat, took the full force of the collision. Some minutes later, paramedics were pulling her across the top of the seats to get her out the opposite door. She was screaming and moaning, and in and out of consciousness.
Although in a state of shock myself, I used my limited Hungarian to speak with ambulance officers, then make out a police report. Half an hour later I reached the hospital.
I found Elaine, lying unattended on a hospital trolley in one of the corridors, waiting for Xray. She was in her underwear, covered only by a thin blanket and shivering with cold. I massaged her feet to try to restore some circulation.
Elaine: I woke up in a strange environment, trying to take in the scene. There was an antiquated wooden triangle hanging above me and I then knew that I was in a hospital bed. I still could not put things together, but was comforted to realise that Lindsay was there and I gradually began to remember a little of what had happened. I sensed that I was fortunate to be alive.
Lindsay: On the second day I found Elaine in her soiled clothes, still bloodied and unwashed, with no hospital gown, and on lying on blood stained sheets. She had had no painkiller or medication of any kind. There had been no evening meal the night before, nor any breakfast, but some of the other patients had shared their breakfast rolls with her.
Only then did I learn that in Hungarian culture, families are responsible to provide for patients, assisting with ablutions and providing food, linen, even toilet paper. Although we carried Hungarian medical insurance, staff were so poorly paid that they depended on donations to survive. When I began to make donations to sundry medical staff, assistance was given. That was how the system worked.
Elaine: Although communication was virtually impossible, it was remarkable how other patients understood and tried to respond to my difficulties. But it was still scary. How could I as a stranger, coping with severe injuries, get to toilet, wash and dress, without family support? On reflection, I can see how this whole experience exposed me to areas of trauma and hardship such as most of these people had suffered over many long years.
Lindsay: On the third day, even though Elaine’s medical needs had not been attended to in any specific way, and although she was still in great pain, the hospital declared that she was ready to be discharged! So the next day Elaine endured a traumatic, hour-long trip through city traffic in an ancient van. But it did bring us home to our own flat south of Budapest, to a soft bed, our own Hungarian doctor, and appropriate medical care. Only then did we discover that Elaine had survived severe concussion, a fractured pelvis, dislocated shoulder, and several back and leg injuries.
Like so many people, we were left with haunting questions, such as ‘Why did ..?’. ‘What if ..?’ There were no quick or satisfactory answers. But together we learned that what had happened to us, now became the test of our integrity and our faith in God. To those around us who also suffer and who ask ‘why?’, we can say that we too have been there, that we understand.
The WHY can cease to be a question. It can become an answer. It’s really up to us!
Although Elaine still has regular hydrotherapy and physiotherapy, she is always quick to testify that this is the best thing that has happened in her life.
It was a black day, but it had a golden edge!
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Most of all, I like the message you delivered. We all go through trials, but it is those trials that allow us to better understand and help others facing the same situations.
I have a feeling that this is a true story, and I was blessed by the faith that these two ladies had. Thank you so much for sharing.
I think you may of meant Czechoslovakia in your first paragraph instead of the Czech Republic, since it was still in the communist era in 1955.
A Christian's peace through trial is a beautiful reaping God makes in our hearts, that He alone can miraculously accomplish. After facing such hardship, it is obvious this is only where these women found that peace.
Laury