Keep the Faith
Miracle stories offer a beam of light, illuminating a path
between the human and the spiritual experience.
-The Miracle Collectors
April is the month, at least on the east coast, when patience in the midst of a long, cold winter is finally rewarded with a burst of color and warmth. Keeping faith, as Katie writes about in this month's blog, is forever reaching for the newness of spring.
We hope, wherever you are, you make the time to appreciate the unfolding of a beautiful season.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
Having spent all of high school and college in the 70’s, I remember “Keep the Faith” as a hippie catch-all from that era to mean be true to your dreams, or hope in a better future, or love Jesus. When our first book, The Miracle Chase was published, I signed every copy with “Keep the Faith,” with the above in mind and then some. I like that the phrase is universal and open to interpretation. I find at times that my own faith is held together by a loose thread, and miracle stories are a bridge for me between doubt on the one side and whatever light is illuminated on the other. Maybe that’s a big reason why I keep chasing miracles.
I met Camille some years ago over the phone. We were trying to get her story in the final iteration of The Miracle Collectors but missed the deadline. When Camille’s husband was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s at age 44, her older next-door neighbor, Johnny, was especially understanding because Johnny’s husband had died from dementia, and she understood all too well what the journey could be like. Camille had two young children at the time and Johnny had a Mickey and Minnie Mouse collection, and a swing set and pool where the kids loved to play. Camille and her children were constant visitors, and the two women became fast friends.
When Johnny died, Camille was asked to help the family out one day to receive any visitors or packages that might come to the door. As Camille sat at Johnny’s desk in the quiet living room – she was perusing the guest book – suddenly, the small lamp light went out, and she felt a cool touch, as if the air conditioning had come on for a second or two. As she sat there in partial darkness, she wondered where Johnny kept her light bulbs and looked at the lamp to see what type of bulb was necessary. When she looked up, she saw a plaque she had never noticed before that said, “God is watching over you. I know because I asked Him to.” Camille told me, “It took my breath away in that moment.”
Stories like this require a spiritual lens, faith in something bigger and beyond our three-dimensional world. Poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran wrote, “Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.” Faith is one of those necessary, ethereal ingredients for survival if you ask me, different and more all-encompassing than hope, which can come and go. Faith requires the infamous leap, a bounding step toward a light you know must be there. (Katie)
Miracle Moment Challenge: Soul Mate
What does it mean to be spiritual to you? Do you have spiritual traits or spiritual states?
Do you nurture that part of yourself?