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Quote of the Day: Living in a World Blessed by Miracles
With the right perspective, you can live in a world of miracles and be blessed by them.
When I read these words, I felt they were spoken specifically for my benefit. A friend in Israel heard a man in his synagogue say them, and they speak to the way I would like to experience the world. I say, “I would like to,” because I am so often preoccupied with the mundane and the ordinary that there is little room left for anything else. Or something out of the ordinary occurs, yet I take it for granted. On the other hand, I’ve discovered that just a shift in mindset creates more opportunities to see the miracles in everyday life. I’m sure that many people who are better qualified than I am would say these are not miracles. But their opinions don’t stop me from appreciating them.
Now I have a friend who recently moved out-of-state with her husband. He has had multiple bouts with cancer, one that was even discovered by accident. But there is no doubt in my friend’s mind that the accidental diagnosis was a blessing from G-d, because undiscovered, death would have been nearly certain. And I believe her. Meanwhile, he is now suffering from another cancer, and this time it’s incurable. They both know that. And they also believe in miracles.
But the kinds of miracles I’m thinking of are not a matter of life and death. They are more about how life appears to us, how we see it and appreciate it. And one day I realized that when I saw something that spoke to me, got my attention, made me smile on a dark day, I believed I was witnessing a small miracle in my own life. What am I referring to?
A smile from a person who always looks sad . . . reading the word “hullabaloo” that I haven’t heard in years and it makes me smile. . . the days I feel “almost normal” and complete, just as I am… the delightful taste of a hummus I haven’t had in a while flavored with lemon. . .an unsolicited encouraging word from my husband. . .listening to a friend who is guiding his own friend on his last journey, and I’m fully present as he shares his pain. . . making a bereavement phone call where we both end up laughing together. . . unexpected blossoms on a colorful orchid plant. . . an encouraging diagnosis from a doctor when I expected bad news.
These are just the tip of the iceberg when I think of the miracles that show up. Maybe the things that happen are pure luck. All I know is that when I choose to see them as miracles, they strengthen my faith, my gratitude, and my connection with G-d.
And to me, that’s all that matters.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Very, very true.
And I know that you are one person, Arahant, who knows exactly what I’m talking about. Thanks.
I might write about it now and again.
Ah yes, are you still posting those? This is one of my favorites:
Sacred Moment
I live forever in this sacred moment, in this sacred place.
When we find the whirlwind around us and even within us, we have but to know that where we are is holy ground and the Lord is in this place. We can say to our thoughts, “Peace. Be still.” Let us know that this moment is sacred, not because we are praying, but because God created every moment to be sacred. Let us know that where we are, at all times, is sacred ground.
Genesis 28:16, “And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it.”
1/31/2016
Not quite as often. I had some computer troubles some time back, and need to rebuild the database I had that generated the pages. It’s much easier with a database than doing it by hand.
If anyone else would like to share an everyday miracle, please do. Your sharing might inspire others to see those miracles in their own lives.
We truly do get to choose our mindset. It’s called “compartmentalization”. Problems don’t go away, but depending upon what they are they can be set aside for a time. And even with those problems we cannot set aside, we can adopt an attitude toward them —
This way can work for a time. But by changing perspective and seeing through new eyes, sometimes the problems are no longer problems. Maybe the land we are traveling through is not our land at all, but a foreign land called the future, and it brings with it new adventures.
The following words are not well thought-out, but I feel like I’m swimming in the ocean of life; sometimes it’s turbulent, sometimes it’s calm. Sometimes the weather is threatening, sometimes the sunshine is glorious. I do feel like sometimes I get trapped in a storm I didn’t anticipate, and eventually steer my way out. At other times I see the storm coming, since I know generally what storms are like, and I can head in a different direction.
But on most days, I try to be a part of all of it, choosing to focus my energy on one aspect or another. It does overwhelm me at times, but that’s part of the ocean/life, too. So my swimming in the ocean is fluid, always changing and ever-present.
“Christians often ask why God does not speak to them, as he is believed to have done in former days. When I hear such questions, it always makes me think of the rabbi who asked how it could be that God often showed himself to people in the olden days whereas nowadays nobody ever sees him. The rabbi replied: “Nowadays there is no longer anybody who can bow low enough.”
Carl Jung
People are not attuned to the still, small voice.
I joined a Christian Women’s Growth Group in my neighborhood. They were supposedly turned down by the group director 4 years ago (there are a lot of activities and groups). The woman that started this group was persistent and they allowed it saying you must have at least 6 or more participants. The first day of the announcement there were 35. More are joining. We study a book and are broken into tables of about 10 or so each week and discuss the chapter. We finished a 10 week series and now are into week 3 of a 6 wk book then break for the summer.
These women are so beautiful – and we pray for the needs of our table. We are doing a card shower for a very very sick son-in-law. Just being encouraging to others in need like you said Susan, is a great gift. This post is a wonderful testimony to remind us of the little moments around us that are so beautiful.
PS – I was at the grocery store earlier today and saw a young woman checking out with five of the cutest kids you ever saw, including a baby in her arms – all hers. They were behaved and it was wonderful to see a big family like the old days!
All of these sound wonderful, FSC. I can see that life is good!
I love this. SQuire Rushnell wrote several books about those coincidences that make you think, “Was that really just a coincidence?”
I have seen some who will look at all this and say, “No big deal” no matter what happened. Then I have seen some of my wackier Christian acquaintances (the ones who see themselves as Hyper-spiritual) try to act matter of fact like, “Of course God does miracles, why are you surprised?” Personally, for me it is the awe and wonder that give life more meaning. If God is real, don’t take Him for granted.
I completely agree! Do people really consider themselves to be “hyper-spiritual”? Those who do obviously aren’t, IMHO.
I love this, too. Sometimes when things just wonderfully happen out of nowhere, I call it synchronicity. My husband was a skeptic, but when I started to point it out, not so much.
Yes. And true.
Mostly I only see the miraculous things with hindsight, sometimes very belatedly indeed.
Truly great post Susan, thanks.
BTW Hummus with lemon sounds good!
Publix doesn’t always have the hummus; Sabra makes it– a real miracle that it was in stock! And recognizing the miracles at any point hones your ability to simply see them. Good job!
I humbly accept this challenge and submit the following, wholly inadequate, list of just recent miracles in my life:
Susan, these are just a few of the miracles which come to mind tonight; the list could go on for… well, forever. Regards.
Jim, having met you and spent time with you and Your Lady (aka Judy), I can assure everyone that your descriptions reflect the positive, warm, caring man that you are. The world is blessed with you in it. I hope whatever difficulties you are encountering will become easier to manage. Warmest, Susan
When I hear that question, I always think of the Parable of the Drowning Man. To the effect that:
**OK, I made that part (and just that part) up.
Susan, these words, especially coming from you, mean more than I could tell you. The difficulties I mentioned- other than the usual problems all families have from time to time — really referred to the fact that it depresses me at times to see what is happening to the Rule of Law I spent my life studying, practicing, teaching, advocating taken over by people who shouldn’t even have licenses, much less Black Robes as in the case of the Judges in the DC Federal Court. That has really gotten to me and I have felt the loss many of the J6 defendants are being forced to endure at the hands of an out-of-control Judiciary and juries which have simply gone wild on a punishment spree.
Once again, thank you for your deeply appreciated kind words.
Sincerely, Jim
Thanks for the opportunity to share them. And I share your dismay about the disregard for the rule of law. May we see better times, soon.
But G-d is still in charge.
Ah, but will he save us from ourselves?
That’s not His job. He is there to help us find spiritual growth. And as my Daddy used to say, “You can learn this lesson the easy way, or you can learn it the hard way.” Most humans choose the hard way.
I hate it when you read a post early in the morning and it sticks with you all day.
I have a shiny new six week old granddaughter. Still has that new baby smell.
How sweet! I hope the new granddaughter brings you much joy. And I hope if my post stuck with you all day that this was a good thing!