once there was lightning. the sky was so black, day lookedlike night. the downpour was heavy. i heard thunder far away.

i thought it would stay at that. but a wind came up, throwingthe rain this way and that. right after, a white splinter camecrashing down from the sky, puncturing the water. it wassome distance from the lifeboat, but the effect was perfectlyvisible. the water was shot through with what looked like whiteroots; briefly, a great celestial tree stood in the ocean. i hadnever imagined such a thing possible, lightning striking the sea.

the clap of thunder was tremendous. the flash of light wasincredibly vivid.

i turned to richard parker and said, "look, richard parker,a bolt of lightning." i saw how he felt about it. he was flat onthe floor of the boat, limbs splayed and visibly trembling.

the effect on me was completely the opposite. it wassomething to pull me out of my limited mortal ways and thrustme into a state of exalted wonder.

suddenly a bolt struck much closer. perhaps it was meantfor us: we had just fallen off the crest of a swell and weresinking down its back when its top was hit. there was anexplosion of hot air and hot water. for two, perhaps threeseconds, a gigantic, blinding white shard of glass from a brokencosmic window danced in the sky, insubstantial yetoverwhelmingly powerful. ten thousand trumpets and twentythousand drums could not have made as much noise as thatbolt of lightning; it was positively deafening. the sea turnedwhite and all colour disappeared. everything was either purewhite light or pure black shadow. the light did not seem toilluminate so much as to penetrate. as quickly as it hadappeared, the bolt vanished – the spray of hot water had notfinished landing upon us and already it was gone. thepunished swell returned to black and rolled on indifferently.

i was dazed, thunderstruck – nearly in the true sense of theword. but not afraid.

"praise be to allah, lord of all worlds, the compassionate,the merciful, ruler of judgment day!" i muttered. to richardparker i shouted, "stop your trembling! this is miracle. this isan outbreak of divinity. this is… this is…" i could not find whatit was, this thing so vast and fantastic. i was breathless andwordless. i lay back on the tarpaulin, arms and legs spreadwide. the rain chilled me to the bone. but i was smiling. iremember that close encounter with electrocution andthird-degree burns as one of the few times during my ordealwhen i felt genuine happiness.

at moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, toentertain thoughts that span the universe, that capture boththunder and tinkle, thick and thin, the near and the far.