By G. E. Shuman
Albert
Einstein once stated, and I paraphrase: We must accept the premise that either
nothing is a miracle, or everything is a miracle. Well, Mr. Einstein, I am one
who, if that premise is true, believes that everything is a miracle. I have
eyes, and I can clearly see this beautiful, immensely complex world. From your
statement, I think you saw it too. I
certainly do believe that miracles happen, and that they probably happen more
frequently than we realize. After sixty-two
years of living and of observing life, I don’t see how I could ever believe
otherwise. I also believe that miracles
are where you find them, and that, to our dismay, sometimes we don’t even look
for them. I don’t think that this means some miracles are ‘small’, in fact, I
think that none of them are small. They are all big, especially when they
happen to you.
I’m
writing about this today because of something that happened to my grandson,
Devon, just last Sunday evening. It was
about ten pm, and that thoughtful grandson of mine had just driven to the
Walmart in Manchester, NH, where he and his family live. He had gone to the
store because his girlfriend was having a craving for oranges, and he wanted to
buy her some. What a nice guy, right?
Somehow, during that late night run to the store, Devon’s wallet had
slipped out his pocket, in the huge parking lot. Now, it’s never good to lose your wallet, but
much worse when that wallet contains your license, your debit card, your social
security card, and, (This part gives me a sick feeling in my stomach.) $400 in
cash from the paycheck you had just received.
Ouch! It also didn’t help that the wallet was lost in that large city,
at a very busy shopping center.
We, as
a family, believe in the power of prayer. So do our children, and, also, their
children. Our daughter, Cathy, (Devon’s mom) and her distraught son obviously
prayed that night, and so did my wife and I, and others, when we heard about
what had happened. Yes, you need to
understand, this was a joint effort. “For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20. Holy Bible.
Okay, so now let me tell you about
the miracle. (Pay attention, as there will be a quiz.) As I’m sure you have already guessed, the
wallet was found, which, to me, was miracle enough. A young lady about Devon’s
age contacted him on Facebook, told him she had found his wallet, and asked if
they could meet so that she could give it back to him. They arranged that, and
Devon went to meet her. To Devon’s
surprise, and obvious relief, his wallet still contained his license, his debit
card, his social security card, AND the $400 from his hard-earned paycheck. Wow!
My grandson thankfully offered to give
that young lady a reward for what she had done, or to at least buy dinner for
her, but she wouldn’t let him. Devon told her that it was a huge blessing for
him, and she replied that people have done many good things to help her before,
and she wanted to help him. Now… here’s
the quiz. Did you understand the miracle, or did you miss it?
It was
surely a ‘God thing’, that Devon got his wallet back, with his identification,
his license, and even his money… every penny of it. To my grandson, I’m sure
this was no small miracle. Still, to my mind, the miracle really happened in
the heart of a young stranger, who found someone’s wallet in a parking lot that
night, could have kept the cash, thrown the wallet away, and never given a
thought to finding its owner. No one would have ever known. Really, no one
would have. Instead, this young lady chose to remember what others have done
for her, and to ‘pay it forward’, with no thought of self, and without ANY reward,
even when it was offered.
In this
strange year of terrorism, fear, and an increasingly nasty presidential
election which seems to shout uncertainty, distress, and danger for the future
of our nation, there are still people of integrity, and still young people of
surprisingly sterling morals. This, to
me, is no small miracle.
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