Stepping UP
Many times, our presence makes a difference in someone's life
in ways we could never anticipate.
-The Miracle Collectors
The summer is truly upon us with the passing of the 4th of July, which means that we'd best make the most of it! One sure way is by noticing what is around us and by stepping up with our time and talents as Joan describes this month.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
“Miracles come in moments. Be ready and willing,” wrote Wayne Dyer quoted in an article I happened to be reading. So simple. It’s what we have been saying for the last 20 years! I felt vindicated at last by mainstream pop culture (not that I was waiting). Ready and willing indeed, and yes, while some miracles unfold over time like the series of coincidences that saved my son's life, others require immediate attention like being saved from ravaging flood waters.
It’s almost uncanny that over the years I've noticed that sometimes there seems to be a dearth of miracle stories, and then other times it seems that these stories come out of the woodwork. This is one of those latter times.
The headline caught my eye first, “Strangers, Nurses, and a Perfectly Timed Miracle.” Since most of my college friends are nurses and after 30 years in healthcare I knew that nurses were at the foundation of much that is good in medicine, I read on. When a woman went into cardiac arrest nearby Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital, the off duty nurses heading for the subway saved her life by administering CPR quickly and effectively until the paramedics arrived with transport to the hospital and the surgical suite. They didn’t have to do it; they were headed home after a long day filled with helping other patients. And yet, they said “Yes” and it changed the stars for one woman and the people who love her.
Within two minutes of reading that article, another miracle article appeared. This one focused on planning ahead, instead of responding to an immediate crisis. Apparently an English gentleman decided that Mt. Everest needed defibrillators, and after losing four young friends to cardiac arrest, he decided he was just the person to put them there. After testing defibrillators at 22,000’, he left one at the 16,500’ base camp. A few short weeks later the new defibrillator saved the life of young woman who experienced sudden cardiac arrest while climbing in the area.
As Katie said last month, once you start talking about something or looking for it, it seems like suddenly the once illusive subject is everywhere. For me, that is one of the beauties of talking about miracles. So many of you have contacted us with not so much a miracle story, but of a miracle mindset that opened your eyes to the myriad of miracles that surround us. They may not be thunderbolts, but to those that experience and recognize them they give cause to literally rejoice and be glad. Miracles do abound, and will, as long as we take seriously the call to do the job that only we can do. To say 'Yes', and have society reap the benefit, is a miracle indeed. (Joan)