Nervous With Doubt

Treva insisted that I leave for India as soon as possible and get the trees planted on behalf of the students who had made the effort to raise the money for them. It was important to report back to the students while school was in session. 

She reminded me in no uncertain terms that all the students’ funds had to be spent on the trees themselves. Not a penny could be spent on overhead or travel expenses. I agreed, even though there was a problem. A trip to India would cost many times more than the money raised by the students. It was a hard decision, because our finances were depleted. We had no option but to spend our personal funds. 

As I stepped onto the flight in New York, my legs started to shake uncontrollably. I had staked all my reputation on a hunch that people in India would agree to and participate in the planting of fruit trees. Now the hunch was going to be tested. I had no experience with that. What would happen if they didn’t like the idea? 

The man sitting in front of me was a music promoter from London. We talked for a while. I told him the purpose of my trip, and he was enthusiastic. After dinner, I went to sleep, spread out across four seats because the plane was relatively empty. Over the ocean, we experienced severe turbulence. I slept through it all. 

My new British friend told me later he started to worry during the turbulence. He knew Yasser Arafat was also on our flight, sitting in first class. My friend became convinced that the turbulence was part of a plot, purposely created because Arafat was on the plane. This man was Jewish, so he was afraid he would be caught in a plot to get Arafat. He was certain this was a death flight, and he became so scared he started to pray. He said he looked back to talk to me, but I was snoring. Seeing me sleeping, he grew calm. 

“I figured if someone like you could sleep through this, I had nothing to worry about. Everything would be OK,” he said.

His words were a message to me. I realized he was inspired by my trip and the vision that spurred it. His faith in me changed my mood and gave me confidence. I took it as an omen that everything would be OK. I was not alone.