Miracles

We went to a gathering of friends on Sunday to enjoy good food and each other's company. We circled up to talk for a while and the hostess shared her thoughts on miracles and asked us to share ours'. Everyone has his or her own meaning for this word. What I felt inside of me as we shared our different perceptions, I would like to share with you. Life is so full of miracles if you choose to see and focus on them. The very act of breathing is a miracle. The way our bodies are able to do everything they do is a miracle. How trees grow and life continues from season to season; all of this is miraculous. I am grateful to be a witness and participant in every day.

There are other types of miracles that are dramatic and often life changing; the ones where people experience a brush with death and are miraculously saved. Others have been healed instantly, or lived against all odds in a miraculous way from a life-threatening disease. If you have had such an experience, I would love to hear about it on my blog. I love how uplifting and hope-filled such stories are. They show me that there is much more to this existence than just what we can sense with our eyes, ears, nose, touch and mind. Post your comments if you would like to share your thoughts and experiences of miracles.

I have had a number of times in my life that I could call this kind of miracle. One of them was not that long ago, it was in May 2007. I was going to get into my car and as I did, I had the distinct knowing that I would die in a car crash. I felt into it and realized it wasn't just my imagination. I became hyper-aware as I drove only a few blocks to the local store. I choose not to push it through the yellow light so I stopped and waited. As the light turned green and I proceeded slowly into the intersection turning left, a speeding car ran the red light. Because I was so aware, I was able to stop in time to miss the collision. As I walked around the store, I felt emotions ranging from shock, amazement, gratitude and even those not identifiable; something close to "awe." The thoughts kept going through my mind, "Wow, I'm alive! Thank you, I'm alive! Oh, my God, I'm alive."

I shifted into deeper appreciation of the simple miracles of life that day. I find myself gazing without thought outside at the simple beauty in our own backyard. I have outbursts of smiling uncontrollably for no reason. I absorb every detail of a child's face before me with desires to relish the moment. How precious life is. How quickly it can change. How important for me to be as present to it and live it so fully, so deeply, and so simply in love and gratitude.

I thank you for sharing this miraculous experience called life through a newsletter. Thank you for going on this journey of thought and feelings through words. May you enjoy life's miracles because you are one.

Quotes:

"Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?" ~Henry David Thoreau

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change." ~Buddha

"To me every hour of the day and night is an unspeakable perfect miracle." ~Walt Whitman