I believe it was my first visit to the Amritapuri ashram on the Kerala coast in 1993.  I volunteered to wash pots each evening as part of my 'seva', or service duties.  When over a thousand people are fed daily from the temple's kitchen facility, pots and dishes are always needing to be washed.

I was bent over a stack of large aluminum vessels, scrubbing vigorously with coconut husk and firewood ash.  A young American couple sauntered into the dish-washing area, just beside where I was working, and proceeded to wash hundreds of pieces of cutlery and dishes that had been soaking in a large pot of water.  After welcoming them to the task at hand, I discovered that Susan and James had recently married and were there visiting Amma's ashram for the first time, just as I was.  I could see that the fellow was having a difficult time with washing the cutlery because he kept complaining.  I had already learned that plunging into the washing whole-heartedly was the way to enjoy the overwhelming workload.  Even though there was at least two hours of pot-washing and dish-washing ahead of us, I did my best to stay cheery.  Eventually we completed the job, and in the process James, Susan, and I had developed a kind of kindred spirit.  We had successfully tackled the load of dirty pots and dishes, and were still alive to laugh about it.

I met James and Susan a few years later while attending a retreat on the coast near Port Townsend, Washington, USA.  This time I noticed that James was using a cane while walking about the beach with his wife.  I stopped and shared some conversation, and then went on my way back to the dining hall for some lunch.  I kind of forgot about our brief meeting until another three years later, when at another retreat, this time in Seattle, Washington, I noticed Susan was pushing James in a wheelchair.  I didn't feel brave enough to inquire into James' situation and carried on helping out in the kitchen as I usually did at these retreats in America. 

A few years later, while attending a retreat in Tacoma, Washington, I again saw Susan pushing James towards where Amma was greeting the retreat participants.  This time James was lying fulling reclined, in a bed-like mobile unit, as his wife wheeled the bed towards the Mahatma named Amma.  I just figured James was quite sick and, again, I felt too embarrassed to ask about his medical condition.   Once more, I just put the mysterious affair out of my mind and carried on with my own seva duties.

It was another two years later, at another Washington retreat, that I noticed Susan was no longer with James but was celebrating a new union and marriage to a fellow I had not met before.  They looked quite joyful and I assumed that James must have passed away from some type of debilitating illness.  Was I ever in for a shock.  

Another two years passed, and there I was again attending a retreat in Tacoma, at the Puyallup fairgrounds, when walking towards me was James!   This time I grabbed the opportunity to say something.  I couldn't help what came out of my mouth when I greeted him with excitement,  "James, I thought you were dead!  I saw you in the mobile bed, and next I saw your wife celebrating her new marriage, and I figured you had died!"   James had a big grin on his face as he warmly replied, "I did almost die!  I had multiple sclerosis for over ten years and my health was deteriorating steadily when, by Amma's grace, my health was completely restored.  I am now happily remarried to a South American woman and just so grateful to be alive." 

Needless to say, I gave him a big hug and walked away not realizing at the time that James' healing was a pretty remarkable event.  I mean, his multiple sclerosis had just vanished into thin air!