Stories have a point

I read this article at Snopes.com. First of all, I love Snopes because entirely too many people pass on bogus and stupid forwards without realizing they are fake, false, or just too stupid to be true. Occasionally, there is some truth on the internet, but mostly, it ain't true. Cell phone numbers are not being released to telemarketers, boycotting gas companies won't lower gas prices, and Penny Brown is not missing.

And then there are some stories, some emails that really can't definitively be proven... like the story in the aforementioned article (edited for space/link to full story):

David Miller* [*not his real name], a pious observant Jew was at Logan Airport getting ready to board United Flight 175...

...Suddenly he remembered that he left his tefillin (ritual boxes with straps worn by Jewish men in prayer) in the terminal boarding area. He politely asked the stewardess if he could go back and retrieve his tefillin, which were sitting just a few feet from the gate. She told him that once the doors of the plane closed, no one was allowed off the plane...

...David was not about to lose this precious mitzvah, or let the holy tefillin get lost like that, so, not knowing what else to do, he started screaming at the top of his lungs, "I am going to lose my tefillin."...

...Finally, he was making such a ruckus and a tumult that the flight crew told him that they would let him off the plane...

... He left the plane, never to reboard.

This flight was United #175. The second plane to reach the WTC. David's devotion to a mitzvah saved his life.

The consequences of David's actions do not end there. Originally the terrorists wanted both towers struck simultaneously to maximize the explosive carnage. Later it was learned that due to this whole tumult, the takeoff was delayed, causing a space of 18 minutes between the striking of the two towers. This delay made it possible for thousands more people to escape alive from both buildings.

Literally thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives were spared because one Jew would not forsake his beloved tefillin.

Yeah, it can't be proven. And maybe it's not. But, it makes a very good point, no?

According to this story, God didn't abandon one of his faithful. He wasn't on the second plane that smashed into the World Trade Center. He lived. And because of the delay, it's possible people were able to get out of the second tower before the plane hit. It's possible is all I'm saying. Guess it takes a little faith to believe that.

Now, if you happen to believe this story could be true, that is, if you're thinking, "well, maybe it happened" or "wouldn't it be cool if that were indeed true?" Ask yourself isn't it the same thing, the same effort, the same leap of faith, to believe the events in the Bible could be true?

Folks, you can't tell me you didn't get a warm, fuzzy feeling reading that story, or maybe other inspirational chain emails you've gotten through the years. That warm, fuzzy feeling... trust it. It is God trying to tell you something.