A “New start” with Krsna
During the marathon I got into the habit of going out on sankirtan between loads at the laundrette, one of the many “creative” ways I could coax my mind onto the street.
One of these days I was standing on the culturally eclectic Albany Road in Cardiff Wales and was having a hard time stopping any of the frantic Christmas shoppers. I saw a rough-looking man approaching me and felt the impending dread of yet another unpleasant drunken exchange. Thankfully he seemed sober enough and was just asking for directions.
As soon as he spoke I recognized his accent and asked him where he was from. “Stoke-on-Trent” he replied, which is the same little town in the North of England where I used to live. It’s quite a coincidence considering how many people there are in the UK and how few “Stokies” ever leave!
He was very surprised when I replied “me too”, and capitalizing on this connection, I offered for him to take a book and he happily gave a decent donation. He had to leave to meet the brother he was visiting and I suggested they drop into Café Atma at some point during his stay. I asked his name, he replied “Jamie” and again I replied “me too”! He didn’t seem to believe me, and left hurriedly looking a bit spooked.
When I walked into Café Atma later to start my service I was surprised to see Jamie sitting there very comfortably on the couch. He had gone to the pub after our meeting to “clear his mind”, but when he read some of Prabhupada’s words he realized he was in the wrong place and had subsequently spent the whole afternoon chatting with the devotees in the café.
He apologized for leaving so hastily earlier, and explained that since coming out of the army recently he has been suffering with anxiety and paranoia (explaining his disheveled appearance). It turns out that he had been in a car explosion in Afghanistan where all the soldiers except him had died. Since then his life has never been the same, and he couldn’t fit into “normal life” again. He was feeling there must be a higher reason for his existence but didn’t know how to pursue his spiritual inklings.
Jamie came as often as possible during his visit to Cardiff, including to a couple of programs, and plans to move to Wales in the future for a “new start”. I pray that he will stay connected and sees that bhakti is the reason Krsna saved his precious human life!
