Pocketful of Miracles
The ideals which have always shown before me and filled me with joy are goodness, beauty, and truth.
-Albert Einstein
We hope you are finding time to enjoy the wonder of the Holiday Season wherever you may be. Bright, colorful lights, special treats to feast on, and loved ones to see, all bring a heightened awareness to the world around us and a particular opportunity to savor and practice the art of noticing. This month, Katie spotlights the virtue of Goodness thanks to an old Christmas movie that was new to her. May you be on the look out for miracles as we head into 2022.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
I’m a fan of everything Christmas: the music, which I cheat my way towards sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving; the transformation of NYC from fall décor to festive window displays, over the top Christmas trees and neighborhood tree lighting traditions; and Christmas movies, my favorites being The Holiday, The Bishop’s Wife, and It’s a Wonderful Life. Recently, a friend introduced me to an old Christmas movie I’d never seen called Pocketful of Miracles. A fun, somewhat convoluted Christmas caper that takes place during the Great Depression and pits the desires of those who wish to help a downtrodden old woman against those out for themselves – chasing and retaining power, position, and money. As Einstein understood, in naming his own pocketful of miracles above, the resolution would involve the ideals of goodness, beauty, and truth.
I’d like to believe as one of our story tellers in The Miracle Collectors did that “good wins out.” And, of course, in Hollywood, happy endings can be manufactured or not. But what about in real life? I recently read about a hero whose story makes goodness palpable. He is someone you’ve likely never heard of – a beloved literature professor at Bard College in upstate NY, Justus Rosenberg, who died a couple of months ago. As a member of the French Resistance in WWII he saved the lives of famous writers and other intellectuals by accompanying them across the Pyrenees. One of these was Franz Werfel who would later write the screen play for The Song of Bernadette, the movie that figures prominently in Joan’s miracle story. Mr. Rosenberg was later captured, then saved by a network of priests, who were also members of the Resistance, and he continued his work. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart and told no one of the extent of his bravery during the war until more than forty years later when interviewed by the Shoah Foundation. In reading his obituary, you can feel the tug-a-war, the arms-extended-pull of so many members of the resistance fighting against all odds, and “the good guys” winning in the end.
Were they lucky? I would like to believe that goodness, in its foundational pursuit of a higher cause, can always outrun meanness or hatred, even if it is outnumbered and on the defense; and especially when it is multiplied by the will of many. We can each make a difference on our own and it is important that we do, but in the company of a collective will of courage and goodness, it seems the whole, the outcome, will be greater than the individual parts.
With much less at stake, and with the accompanying virtues of beauty and truth, Pocketful of Miracles is no exception to the hope that goodness wins. There is an unexpected twist (spoiler alert) when those whose hearts and minds are moved to do the right thing. Their one time change of heart, like the Grinch or Scrooge, become full-on transformations. Perhaps it is the repeated themes so prevalent at Christmas time – peace, goodness, and giving – that have me so enamored with the season. As we look to Christmas, we celebrate Jesus’ becoming the Light of the World by illuminating and manifesting the ideals all humans of goodwill try to emulate. (Katie)