Saved By a Miracle

Back in the 1800s the disease called peritonitis was a rare, but deadly, event. Its occurrence was regarded as a sure death warrant in those days because they did not have any “miracle” medicines.

My grandmother, Mrs. Charles Keeney, lived with her husband and three small children in the tiny town of Johnsonburg, New York, in Wyoming County. Mrs. Keeney came down with peritonitis. Even the causes of this disease were relatively unknown in those days. She was near death, with an extremely high fever.

She had a dream one night which she later shared with her family. In the dream, she was drifting down a river in a rowboat with no oars. She could hear the rapidly approaching roar of a waterfall in the river ahead of her.

All of a sudden, there was a huge figure standing astride the river, beckoning her. Grandmother said it was Christ. He called to her in a loud voice, above the roar of the falls:

“Go back, woman! You have three young children to care for! Go back!”

That very morning she woke up, drenched in perspiration, and her fever was gone. Her entire family, the doctor, and even the neighbors declared it a miracle! This happened years before the birth of my mother, who was the youngest of four children in their family.
-Clyde E. Corson, Lawndale, Calif.