Frank's Cottage

Rita Chretien had an ally that helped her survive 49 days in the wilderness of Nevada with nothing but her van (which was hopelessly stuck in mud) and carefully rationed road trip snacks.

It’s an ally that might surprise you, but it made all the difference in the world to Rita: it was her faith in Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son).

According to a Calgary Sun article, Rita and husband Albert were on a road trip from their Pentiction, B.C. home to Las Vegas in March 2011 when they took a sightseeing detour and became stuck on a remote logging road.

After three days, Albert left to find help (a 35-kilometre trip to the nearest major highway), while Rita read books, took daily walks, and studied her Bible. She rationed her meagre supplies and drank melted snow.

Rita was discovered May 6, 2011 by men riding ATVs. A doctor at a hospital in northern Nevada said she probably had just a few days of life left. That said, her recovery was astonishingly fast and according to the Sun, the doctor, James Westberry of St. Luke’s Hospital, gave at least some of the credit to her faith.

“I must say, it is unusual for us to see someone in this type of situation to not only survive, but to be doing so well,” Westberry added.

News like this doesn’t surprise me; I’ve read about studies that connect faith with resilience and health. Indeed, a 2000 Health Psychology magazine analysis of 42 studies involving more than 125,000 patients found that those with some sort of “religious” involvement live longer.

So, what do you think of this? Does a neutral analysis of so many studies have credibility in your world?

There are lots of places in ancient documents where God is represented as a place of refuge and a solid foundation. During her endless days of worry and creeping fear, Rita must have read and relied on passages like this: “GOD is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight”. Or maybe Rita was encouraged by this: “We who have fled to God for refuge can have great confidence as we hold on to the hope before us.”

Now, you may be scoffing at all this, because Rita’s husband was finally found, dead, in September 2012. So in light of that, what credibility or hope do all those quotes have? If you believe there is nothing after this life, that when we die everything comes to a breathtaking halt, then those quotes may, indeed, strike you as meaningless.

But if something inside you says there has to be more than 70-odd years on this planet followed by decaying in a grave, then what I quoted above is worth seriously considering.