Back in the early years of the Jesus People Movement, one of our key leaders was Mark Buckley. He and his 3 brothers and 4 sisters lived in Terra Linda, and Mark and two of his brothers, John and Robert, played football at Terra Linda High and at College of Marin. Mark was pastor of one of our churches in Novato, and he moved to Phoenix years ago and is still active in ministry.

      I am guessing that it was in the late 1970’s when I got a call from Mark saying that his brother Robert had broken his neck when he dove into the Colorado River, while on a trip with some of his friends. He was being flown into Marin, at a small airport in Novato and Mark wanted me to be there when the aircraft landed.

      Robert was carried off on a striker frame, which devise I was familiar with as a medic in the Air Force, and it was designed to prevent a person from moving. He was taken to Kaiser hospital in Terra Linda. A day or so later I got a call from Mark who wanted me to come over to the hospital right away. I found the room where Robert was, still in the striker frame, and Mark was there. He told me he prayed for healing for his brother, and he had been healed, but the hospital folks would not release him from the frame.

      As a pastor I had some clout, and I asked the nurse if I could talk to the head doctor on duty at that time. He came into the room, examined Robert, but would not remove him from the frame. I asked that an x-ray be made to see if Robert had been healed. Robert was wheeled away, the x-ray taken, and he was brought back into the hospital room.

      Some short time later, the doctor came back with two x-rays. He attached them side by side on the wall. There it was, the one on the left showed the broken neck, the one on the right, well, no broken neck. Robert was removed from the frame and off we went, Robert, Mark, and myself.

      I run into Robert now and again, and we both smile at each other in remembrance of his incredible healing.