The simple things in life that are taken for granted will gain new meaning:
The sound of the front door opening, the voice of someone you love,
the warmth of the sun on your face, the sound of the leaves rustling in the trees
or crunching beneath your feet…
-The Miracle Collectors
For most of us October marks the end of Indian summer, a transition toward the cold and dark of winter. The colorful decorations and lively trick or treaters knocking on our doors makes this transition a bit easier. Light and dark, life and death, are meant to go together as Katie writes about in this month's blog. We hope, wherever you are, you can appreciate the beauty of fall in all its glory as the seasons change.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
Halloween, as we know it, has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest season and the entrance into the dark half of the year. At this time of transition, it was understood there existed a thin veil between the living and the dead, and all manner of spirits could and would cross over. While it’s historically debatable how Christianity settled on November 1st as All Saints Day (some say to quash the pagan festival), All Hallow’s Eve, October 31st , retained its roots in the Celtic tradition. Tombstones, ghosts, and skeletons dotting lawns and hanging from trees, illuminate the focus on the dead, while costumed minions, galivanting about and contributing to the general revelry, remind us very much of the living.
Perhaps ironically, it is a constant awareness of death that makes living worthwhile, Halloween every day, if you will. In Steve Jobs now famous commencement address at Stanford, given not long after receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, he said, “Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent.” When we acknowledge that our time is limited, we are more likely to focus on what is most important, swatting away the “small stuff” in favor of the big payloads – meeting each moment as if for the first or last time.
One beautiful, summer morning in August, I was invited for a walk on the beach with one of my grandsons, eight years old and wiser than his years. I guess I started off too fast because he said, “Moocey, we need to take our time because this is such a beautiful walk.” His comment really hit me at the time as an apt metaphor for life. He proceeded to collect shells, filling his pockets and arms and eventually recruiting my pockets and arms in the mission. And we chatted as we walked along the shore, nice and slow so as not to miss the next good find. No unique shell could be left behind.
Out of the mouths of babes, but we’ve heard it all before, haven’t we? Stop and smell the flowers, coffee, what-have-you. And yet, death, it does give one pause and shakes us out of our stupor every time. So, cheers to Halloween and remembering life and death together all year long. (Katie)
Miracle Moment Challenge: Life Saver
If you found out you had a week to live, what are the first three things you would do?
When the reprieve comes, is there anything you would now change?