SERENDIPITY
Illustration★★★★A lone shipwreck survivor on an uninhabited island managed to build a crude hut in which he placed all that he had saved from the sinking ship. Each day he prayed to God that he would be rescued, and each day he searched the horizon for a passing ship that he might hail. One day, in the midst of his prayer, he was horrified to discover that his hut was in flames. All that he had saved from the ship to help him sur- vive was destroyed. He looked up at the sky and shook his fist at God. “Why didn’t you listen to my prayers,” he screamed. “Is it that you don’t care?” But within a few hours, to his amazement, a ship arrived. “We saw your smoke sig- nal,” the captain explained. Service 309
The point
A castaway on a deserted island prays for rescue; when his hut catches fire destroying his supplies, he despairs—until a passing ship arrives, explaining the smoke was his rescue signal.