Excerpt from
Tiger Beat Magazine
Published in North America in June 1973 by the Laufer Company
The Night Donny Turned From God!
Once in a while even those of us with the greatest amount of trust and faith in God have moments when a tiny
bit of doubt or fear creeps in. It can happen to anybody--even you, just the way it did to Donny Osmond!
By now most of you probably know what happened to Donny Osmond in London, England, last January.
Yes, his voice did start to change, but we're talking about that night during the Osmonds' last
show when Donny collapsed on stage and had to be rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
For Donny, that really is one night he'd like to forget for two reasons. First, it was a
frightening experience. It was terrible to collapse like that and worry all his fans who had come
to see him, and it wasn't very pleasant having to be rushed to the hospital!
But, more than that, Donny wants to forget the second reason more. It was a night when he had lost
faith in God.
Donny vaguely remembers being put onto the stretcher, and he remembers the siren wailing, his mother
sitting quietly beside him, her warm hand holding his. He remembers the look on his brothers' faces
when the ambulance doors were closed upon him--concern, worry, hurt, even a bit of fear!
Left To Sleep
It all wasn't too clear to Donny. Perhaps it never was, but later, after he had been treated by the
doctors and left to sleep and regain his strength, something kept prodding at the back of his mind.
And, as he lay there, staring at the ceiling, it had come back to him.
It had happened when he was being taken from the ambulance to the hospital, when the pain had seemed
to shoot through his chest, and he had seen the image of one of his fans tears flash through his
mind. It was then, that he had asked God why He had let this happen, why He had stopped loving him!
And now, although Donny knew he really hadn't meant those words, there was no way to take them back.
They had already been thought, and to Donny, who comes from a very religious family, they meant he
had doubted God.
He had doubted God's purpose and guidance in his life. He had forgotten the words from the Bible:
"To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose, under heaven."
For Donny, doubting itself was something practically unkown to him. He truly believed that God did
guide his life, cared for him, loved him, the way He loved all His children on earth.
But why, in that second, had those doubts crept into his mind? As always, when something's bothering
Donny, it's easy for his family to notice. It's there on his face and deep within the depths of his
dark brown eyes.
So it was, when Mrs. Osmond came into her son's room that night to say a prayer beside him, she knew
instantly that something was wrong.
And Donny didn't find it hard to tell his mother what was bothering him--how he felt he had deserted
his Father in heaven.
Mrs. Osmond was silent for a moment, then she tenderly bent down and kissed her son's warm cheek.
"Donny," she smiled gently. "It's all right. God knows what's inside your heart. Sometimes, even
though you've said something that you didn't mean--it isn't so important. As long as that feeling
isn't really in your heart.
"Don't forget, even in the Bible Jesus says from the cross 'My Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?'
And you know, Jesus had more love, faith and trust than all of us put together. Don't you think
God knew what was really inside Jesus' heart?"
Donny had looked up at his mother, with tears glistening in his eyes, and had weakly nodded. Slowly
a smile spread over his pale lips, and although he didn't say the words, "Thank you, Mother, I love
you," Mrs. Osmond knew they were there. They were written in Donny's soft brown eyes and more
important--in his heart.
© 1973 by The Laufer Company
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