When Miracles Happen

Children’s Hospital

Philadelphia

October 2006

I know a miracle when I see one;

No explanation needed,

Not the one where the surgeon,

Added an extra ventricle,

For a heart the size of a walnut.

But rather the miracle,

of trust when the mother gave 

her baby to the surgeon and said

good-bye.  

Some friends had wanted a baby in the worst way.  Finally, the magic numbers lined up and we all shouted for joy when the baby was born.  All of us were numb when we learned shortly after the birth that she was lacking a ventricle. A physician described it for me this way: "These were the kinds of babies we sent home for nature to take its course."   On the surgery day, I was there when the mother slowly, carefully placed the baby in the surgeon's arms and said goodbye. Through 7 hours of anxious surgery...mother and and father and God sat there in that waiting room.  This was about the 500th time of doing this surgery--total! Two surgeons flew from England to observe. Every half hour somebody updated us.  Six years later, I look back to the real miracle--the miracle of trust when mother gave baby over into the surgeon's arms.  Isn't that something we do we every life--including our own?  We hand our lives over to somebody else in the most profound act of trust.  

Miracle Staircase

One of the Great Wonders 
of the World!

Before I start this story--let me be very clear: been there, seen this, it's miraculous no matter how it got there! 

Now the story...

In Santa Fe, NM, there is the Loretto Chapel which looks more like a cathedral.  It was built in 1877, but the architect and chief builder died in the middle of construction leaving no way to get to the choir loft. As you stand in the sanctuary and look up at the loft, you have got to wonder how anyone would have the skills to build even a basic structure without a long intrusive incline.

Here is the story they tell:  


 
Needing a way to get up to the choir loft the nuns prayed for St. Joseph's intercession for nine straight days. On the day after their novena ended a shabby looking stranger appeared at their door. He told the nuns he would build them a staircase but that he needed total privacy and locked himself in the chapel for three months. He used a small number of primitive tools including a square, a saw and some warm water and constructed a spiral staircase entirely of non-native wood. The identity of the  
 

Loretto Chapel, Santa Fe

carpenter is not known for as soon as the staircase was finally finished he was gone. Many witnesses, upon seeing the staircase, feel it was constructed by St. Joseph himself, as a miraculous occurrence.

The resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet, making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or apparent center support. It has been surmised that the central spiral of the staircase is narrow enough to serve as a central beam. Nonetheless there was no attachment unto any wall or pole in the original stairway, although in 1887 -- 10 years after it was built -- a railing was added and the outer spiral was fastened to an adjacent pillar.^[4] Instead of metal nails, the staircase was constructed using dowels or wooden pegs.^[5]
The legend claims that the mystery had never been satisfactorily solved as to who the carpenter was or where he got his lumber, and that there were no reports of anyone seeing lumber delivered or even seeing the man come and go while the construction was being done. Since he left before the Mother Superior could pay him, the Sisters of Loretto offered a reward for the identity of the man, but it was never claimed.

Look...
I am not trying to solve this mystery.  I saw it.  All I can tell you is that a structure like this one built entirely with dowels and from non-native wood is truly a masterpiece.  Personally, I do not believe that God goes zap and just takes the place of people.  God has this thing for using people.  The incarnation--God becoming a human being in Jesus-is the master-work.  Everything else derives from that ultimate reality.  So I do not have to argue if Joseph the Carpenter arrived--somebody did craft a magnificent work and it alone testifies to the ultimate Creator.  

What structures does God build in the world through our lives through words of grace, hope, forgiveness and love?  Isn't this truly incredible work of a staircase one way of looking at what you and I build in the world through the work of God in us? 

Galileo Reborn!

Galileo Rewritten!

There is nothing like the birth of a baby to reorganize a couple's life.  The center of the universe changes--things revolve around the baby.  It is just like Galileo's discovery that earth is not the center but rotates around the sun.

Then I thought of the discovery of the Magi of the Christ Child.  On that day, the center of the universe changed for them.  TS Eliot, in the Journey of the Magi, describes the Wisemen at the manger and discovering the real implications of taking Jesus into their lives--"Ishould be glad of another death."  In other words, physical death is nothing compared to the death of the ego which gives birth to the Christ Child. The question is this: are we prepared to bring this Child into our lives when we consider the change in our lives?  Or, are we willing to change ourselves for the Christ Child in the same dramatic way as we did for one of our babies?



The Journey of the Magi
TS Eliot
stanza 3

Were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Stoking New Year Coals

Stoke the Coals!  

I love nothing more than an evening fire place ablaze.  Something in the dance of the flames settles me at the same time it stirs my passions. 
The release of the energy in the fire FIRES me--infuses me with peace and passion.  If that is not enough--then why not--I also light a large Yankee Candle for aroma.  Fill the senses with the fire of life. 

Of course, there is the link with fire and the Divine Presence--with Moses and then the Day of Pentecost. New life is infused, passion for something greater afoot, and a peace that passes all understanding glows.  But there is more here!

The morning after my last fire, I saw sparks and the crackle of wood still burning.  I stirred the coals, bunched them up, and with some short breaths--it burst into flames again. Oh, it needed some fuel...some careful setting of kindling--but that fire was alive. 

I wonder how many of us see sparks, hear crackles of flames long past in our lives--which maybe, just maybe we can stir up into new fire.  Oh, don't forget how careful the process must be--sitr, just enough breath, and--new fuel. 

I read many articles from the Harvard Business Review (Rekindling Passion for your Work) or Leadership Journal (When your Vocation Burns Out)--and all of them require going back over old ground to find the way forward--to ignite new fires with new fuel. 

And by the way, I would not leave out the source of fire that Moses discovered or the disciples found on the Day of Pentecost. 

Putting the Puzzle Together

Jig Saw Puzzle Parts 

Putting the Puzzle of Life Together

I attended a funeral recently, and while I was there, I kept seeing this gentleman in a full leg stabilizer--and just could not place him.  Something in his smile said I knew that person.  So during the reception, I made my way over and introduced myself. Once I heard the name--it was so very familiar, but I still could not place him. We sat at a table, and without trying to pry, I asked him all the "small world questions."  Eventually, we discovered that we had met 28 years ago at a wedding in New York City.  My goodness!  That's a lot to piece together--how did I dredge that one up? 

Psychologists call it the "aha experience."  Our minds assimilate billions of information over a lifetime.  Any event or situation--like being at a religious service--can suddenly tie the big picture together.  Where have I seen you before?    Granted that this is an inductive process.  You take one small bit of information and reason from there into the whole picture.

What if we play our cards another way?  

 

What if we begin with the large picture--like the box cover for the puzzle?  If you can see the big picture, then you can begin to look for certain parts that go together until gradually the puzzle is complete.  The key to the puzzle is the picture on the cover of the box! 

I do not want to be overly simplistic--but I think that most people live their lives with the box cover and then look for the parts to fill in.  All kinds of things contribute to the box cover--values, beliefs, convictions on all levels, self-image.  Then we look for the parts to fill in the puzzle.  The only question is this: what have you chosen for the top of your box?  What dictates your selection of the puzzle parts?  

Stand Tall like a Redwood

The Secret About Redwoods 

Redwoods are nearly the oldest trees on the plant and certainly the tallest.  They live on average 500-700 years.   But do you know their secret?  Redwoods stand tall because they intertwine their root system.  Rarely do they stand alone.

Last fall, Hurricane Sandy blew through our area on the way to the northeast.  Our beautiful Plum Tree was literally pulled up out of the ground!  The tree stood by itself in the center of the yard without shelter or support. With all of its leaves, the storm turned it inside out like an umbrella and pulled it out of the ground!  We replanted it by staking out the four corners. 

And the moral of the story?  Resolve to stand tall like a Redwood.  Connect with others.  Find shelter when needed. Get nourishment.

Back to my favorite picture of posts (1/7,8).
Look at the inter-connection!
Can you feel the strength within this group?


‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.      John 15

Resolution to Resolve!

The Resolution to Resolve 

I wanted to follow-up from yesterday's post about New Year's Resolutions.  You can make a resolution any time during the year.  What's so special about January 1st?  Maybe that's just another way to start afresh. But what we have learned is that chance of success in any resolution depends on who you include in it.  Richard Wiseman at the University of Bristol studied 3000 participants and found that 88% failed in their resolutions.  The number dramatically increased as they made the resolve to take just one step--a one time step toward change which involved somebody else.  Then work out the plan for change with that person or persons.  Invest money and your chances go higher. Invest a professional who will follow you -- better still.  But you get the idea.  Look at the picture above. It may be a huddle of some sort--or a circle of friends--but they are going some place together.  Or for at least one moment they are tapped into each other.