Into the Deep: A Book about Facing Traumatic Events with Faith

On August 30, 2003, Robert Rogers and his wife and four children were driving from Wichita to their home near Kansas City, Missouri. They had attended a wedding in Wichita and now, with the children (all under the age of nine) wearing their pajamas and securely buckled into their seats, were making the three-hour trip home.

Robert's wife, Melissa, was driving in the rain, which had been unceasing for hours.

About halfway to Kansas City, outside Emporia, Kansas they suddenly found themselves surrounded by water. Jacob Creek, which normally amounted to nothing more than a slow trickle had turned into a torrent. The family's van began to fill up with water in the darkness. The children awoke and began to cry as the cold water rose up around their legs. The car stalled and the windows would not open. There seemed to be no escape. Then a wall of water carried their van over an embankment and it became clear that something had to be done. Robert kicked out a window to provide a way out. Immediately he was sucked out into the raging waters and found himself drowning, breathing in water.

Robert survived but his wife and four children did not. He had to face the loss of his whole family and to return home to a house which was filled with memories. He had to go through the funeral--five white caskets lined up for burial.

As I read the book Into the Deep, written by Robert Rogers, my heart literally ached for this man and I found myself in tears more than once. I could not imagine going through such a traumatic time as this. To lose one family member or loved one is hardbreaking enough, but to lose your entire family is beyond comprehension.

Robert is an evangelical Christian. He asked God the questions that anyone would: "Why did this happen to us?" "Why didn't you save my family?" It was an enormous test of his faith. He prayed for strength and peace and help in getting through all that followed. Even though he didn't get the answers to his questions, he got the strength and peace for which he prayed. He grieved as any normal person would and should do, but in the worst of times, he knew that he was being supported by God.

Robert came to believe, like many of us, that there is not always an answer as to why something like this happens in our lives. But it is about how we deal with these crises that occur that is important.

Many people find these events to be turning points, defining moments, where they are forced to choose the direction in which they will go. Some lose their faith and turn away from God in anger and frustration. Others choose to surrender their burden to God and trust that power and presence to sustain them as they walk through the valley of the shadow. It is these individuals that generally come out on the other side, seeing and knowing that they have been supported and strengthened during their ordeal.

While Robert comes from the standpoint that we all are familiar with, that "God doesn't give us more than we can handle," I don't believe that God causes such events to occur. If there is any explanation that rings true for me, it is the idea that our souls make choices throughout various lifetimes that allow us to learn lessons and to evolve in spiritual awareness. The book, The Little Soul and the Sun by Neale Donald Walsch is a good example of that philosophy.

Whatever we choose to believe about the reason for these life-changing events, like Robert came to realize, it's how we choose to react that is of the utmost importance and which, ultimately, will make all the difference in our experience.