A Tragic Serendipity

As a young adult, the Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoevsky, arrested for treasonous acts against Tsar Nicholas I, was sentenced to death. Blindfolded, robed in white burial shroud, he was tied to a post.

As the rifles of execution were cocked and aimed, a horseman arrived with a prearranged message from the Tsar: instead of death Dostoevsky’s sentence had been changed to 10 years of hard labor. 

As he boarded the convict train for Siberia, a woman gave him a copy of the New Testament, a book that he devoured during his 10 years in prison. Dostoevsky emerged from exile with unshakable Christian convictions. 

Prison forced Dostoevsky to live with thieves, murderers, rapists, drunks, and drug abusers. Over time he glimpsed the image of God in even the lowest of prisoners. 

The near-death horror and the suffering of Siberian imprisonment gave Dostoevsky an intimate knowledge of the mysterious depth of the human soul with its burden of tribulation, terror and pity strengthened by the transcendent  joy of love and service.

Almost everyone who has been humbled by a near death experience or some other tragic event gains freedom from worldly pursuits. They feel God-controlled instead of self-controlled. They discover that only in God’s service do they find peace.