As I return to this space – a space I have avoided for many reasons (we may discuss over the coming weeks) – we are headed into THAT time of year. A time that thrusts many normal beings into a state of frenzy. A time that churns emotions, experiences and actions, that direct us along a marathon from one end of the Limbic system to the other. Simple, ‘safe’ example: the Christmas season, or whatever holidays you choose to celebrate at this time of year, is a time for Peace and Joy. That statement will be accepted and not accepted, in so many ways…one end of the spectrum to the other. But I digress.
I come back to this space with a message from a book that I am becoming very fond of. As soon as I read it, I was compelled to share. So I offer this passage to assuage the over-exaggerated perspectives of the ‘reasons for the season’ – material or spiritual – and to quell the cynicism that has a tendency to ooze through the cracks and disrupt all that Peace and Joy.
Thomas Lynch is an American poet, writer and an undertaker. He wrote the following while reflecting on the passing of a friend and the events that made up his funeral. It was part of an essay describing his thoughts on a Bible passage Mark 2:21 and Miracles…
“…these are the miracles we fail to see, on the lookout as we are for signs and wonders: for seas that part for us to pass through, skies that open to a glimpse of heaven, the paralytic who stands and walks, the blind who begins to see, the shortfall that becomes a sudden abundance. Maybe what we miss are the ordinary miracles, the ones who have known us all along – the family and friends, the fellow pilgrims who show up, pitch in, and do their parts to get us where we need to go, within earshot and arm’s reach of our healing, the earthbound, everyday miracle of forbearance and forgiveness, the help in dark times to light the way, the ones who show up where there is trouble to save us from our hobbled, heart-wrecked selves.”
So as we run past the turkey and dive towards that tree, I hope to not miss the ordinary miracles that take place in myriad ways, everyday. May Thomas Lynch’s passage evoke you to be someone’s miracle; to show up, pitch in, and do your parts to get others what they need. At the very least, I hope that the passage helps us recognize the simplicity and the wonder we can all give…we have to believe that we can always make a miracle happen. When we do, we may possibly change or save a life.
Thomas Lynch’s essay Miracles, can be found in “The Good Book” a compilation of essays and stories…
the divine art of chilling out 