Men of Miracles – Part Four
Michael Bondarchuk was born in Canada in 1937, and grew up in the northern interior of the rugged, mountanous province of British Columbia. When he was 18, Michael happened to be hiking with a friend near Dome Creek, some eighty miles east of the city of Prince George. The day was gloomy and the sky was low with heavy clouds. Michael and his friend followed a logging trail that finally brought them to a lookout hut which was inhabited by a forest ranger.
The ranger welcomed the two hikers, but warned them not to go outside, because of an approaching electrical storm and the danger of a lightning strike. Ignoring this warning, Michael made his way onto the balcony. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light. Michael was thrown backwards through the glass windows of the hut, where he lay dazed on the floor. His shoes had been burned off his feet, and there were holes in his pockets where the coins he had been carrying had melted.
Much to his amazement and relief, Michael survived his close encounter with death. By all accepted logic, he should have been killed by the millions of volts that had surged through his body that stormy day. Yet, as he later mused over his miraculous escape, he began to wonder whether his survival might have been due to some special power that he possessed. He wondered whether, in some strange fashion, he possessed the power to overcome the forces of nature.
Thinking that he had the power to overcome electricity, he began to experiment by touching live, electrical wires. His initial tests were hardly encouraging. Each time he touched the wires he received a sharp electrical jolt. However Michael was not easily deterred. Instead of giving up he decided to continue his experiments, but this time he introduced a dramatic new twist. He decided to focus his mind beforehand on the thought that he would not be harmed.
To his surprise he found that this strategy worked. He found that by concentrating beforehand on the idea that he would not be hurt, he was able to avoid electric shocks when he touched live wires. However he also found that, if for some reason his attention happened to be diverted for any reason, the all too shocking reminder was immediately apparent. It soon became clear to him that his capacity to overcome the power of electricity was in some strange way governed by his mind.
Michael was sufficiently enthused by his success to try this formula in other experiments. Although he was not always successful, he found increasingly that he was able to do things that other people claimed to be impossible. Not surprisingly, his new-found abilities led to considerable notoriety in his home town of Prince George, and many evenings found him in the local pub demonstrating his amazing powers.
Michael came to Vancouver in January 1982, and it was there that I first met him. As he was keen to show off his abilities, he agreed to demonstrate them for myself and a few friends at my apartment. He began by producing a length of electric cable that was attached to a 110 volt plug. The positive and negative leads were left exposed. Then, inserting the plug into a wall socket, he grasped the exposed wires of the cable in his bare hands and applied them to the base of a 100 watt light bulb.
As the wires made contact with the bulb, it shone with a brilliant glare. He then held the bulb aloft to enable us to take photographs. While the bulb remained lit Michael showed no signs of any discomfort. He then pointed to an empty fish tank nearby and asked us to fill the tank with water. When it was filled, Michael put the 100 watt bulb into the tank, and again took the two electrical leads in his bare hands and placed them on the bulb. Even though the bulb was now completely submerged in water, it again glowed brightly under the water.
Michael then followed up this experiment with an even more dazzling demonstration. With the cable still plugged into the wall socket, he took the two bare wires and held one in each hand. He explained that he was able to control the electric current that was flowing through his body. He then asked me to place one hand on one of his wrists, and the other hand on the other. I did as he asked, but could feel no sensation of any electrical current.
Seeing that I was relaxed and in a trusting mood, Michael announced that he would now allow the current to flow through my body. To my surprise, and then increasing consternation, I began to feel an electric current surging through my arms. The sensation was slight at first, much like pins and needles. However the electrical sensations grew steadily more intense until both of my hands began to throb. I felt as if my hands were glued to his arms and that it was impossible to let go.
Finally, when my level of discomfort was obvious to all, Michael told the group that he would now begin to reduce the voltage that was passing through my body. With that the throbbing sensation began to diminish until it slowly ebbed away, allowing me to remove my hands. Not content with this demonstration, Michael insisted on repeating it with several other friends.
Later that evening Michael showed off a variety of other abilities, including his immunity to heat. During all these demonstrations, at no time did he show any discomfort, nor was there any sign of any inflammation or damage to his skin. He clearly enjoyed the challenge of attempting anything that anyone told him was impossible. His instinctive response was to to try and see if it could be done.
In every case he adopted the same preparatory procedure. He simply visualised in his mind a picture of himself doing the thing that was said to be “impossible”, and at the same time issued an inner command that he would not be harmed. Although there was nothing formal about his mental preparation, he did concede that his success depended on his concentration, and that if he was distracted mentally, he was unable to succeed.
I last saw Michael on a chilly evening in the Fall, as I drove him back to his apartment. As he got out of the car he asked me if I would agree to one final request. When I asked him what it was, he said he wanted me to drive over his foot! I told him that it was unnecessary for him to indulge in any more demonstrations of his amazing mastery of mind over matter. However Michael was insistent. Grinning gleefully, he placed his foot in front of the car tire.
With some misgivings, I drove slowly forward and felt the car lurch as it passed over his foot. Without any sign of discomfort he immediately ran round and placed his other foot in front of the opposite tire. Once more I drove forward obligingly, and again the car lurched forward. My last recollection of this amazing man was the sight of him striding briskly away, until he was lost in the shadows of the darkened street.
When Jesus began his ministry of liberation from the shackles of the mind, he pointed out that children had a greater capacity to perform miracles, because they had not yet been conditioned into believing they were impossible. Perhaps it was because of his simplistic approach to life that Michael was able to do what he did. In any event, some of the most amazing “miracles” on record have been performed by young children, as we shall see in the next instalment.
