Those Daily Miracles

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

~  Albert Einstein

Amazed. It is a word which today is over-used and has lost much of its meaning. But on this day I truly was - amazed. Before me stood a minor miracle, a small plant which only the day before anyone would have taken for dead.

I had recently purchased my yearly supply of garden plants; most I had planted, but this one had somehow escaped me. I thought I’d gotten six lovely coleus plants, but when I planted them I only had five. Thinking I had simply miscounted, I thought no more about it. But now I remembered that before planting we had found one of them lying on the porch deck. It had been dry and therefore very light-weight and we assumed either the wind or a pesky squirrel had knocked it off the ledge where it had sat. I watered it well and planted it that very day.

Unbeknownst to me, another coleus lay nearby, but out of sight. A week later I had found it, pot and all, lying on its side on the ground, bone dry with withered leaves. In fact, about half of its leaves were brown and crunchy-dry. I nearly threw it out, but I had spent good money on those plants and decided to do what I could. Setting the plant in a small bowl, I thoroughly watered it and set it on our kitchen window sill. The following day all three of the plant’s stems stood straight up, its remaining leaves full and healthy looking, with bright green and rich rust coloring. I will plant it in a larger pot and nurse it along until it has fully recovered before planting it outdoors. I call it Lazarus.

“The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is: a miracle and unrepeatable.” ~ Storm Jameson

Recently, a family friend had a horrendous bicycling accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He lay in the intensive care unit for days with bleeding and swelling on his brain, no memory of the accident, and questionable prognosis for recovery. Doctors were guardedly encouraging, friends and family were in shock, and the patient himself had no idea of what was going on. But those close to him were always there with him – sitting next to his bed, holding his hand, praying, crying, staring off into space, occasionally nodding off – keeping watch by simply being present. But in a situation such as this, it is never simple.

After a couple of weeks, he was released from the hospital and admitted to an in-patient rehab center. After another few weeks, he was allowed to go home with continuing out-patient rehab. Fortunately, he is able to walk, talk, and communicate, although not as well as he did previously. Some of his memory has returned and his functioning has improved, but he still has a long way to go. No one can say, with certainty, if he will recover fully and how functional he will end up being. However, he has made great strides in a relatively short amount of time, which is a positive sign. He might have died, but here he is one short month later. Again I am – amazed.

Whether you believe in them or not, miracles do happen every day. Many are seemingly insignificant, some mind-blowing - ALL are evidence of something far greater than ourselves.

Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.

Psalm  105:5

All Goes Round

Round

is the sun,

seeming to rise each day

and descend each night,

 

 

providing heat and light and more

than a touch of mystery.

 

 

It is round

we are told,

but we dare not stare it in the face

 

 

to see for ourselves

except in that very rare case.

 

 

Round

is the moon

appearing to rise and traverse the sky.

 

 

Although it may not be fully seen

from where we are,

 

 

so small and far below,

I see its rounded edge.

 

 

I know this is true,

for I have seen its full, round face

 

 

reflecting back the sun's warm glow

more times than you may ever know.

 

 

Round

is the earth

 

 

although I cannot easily detect it,

 

 

nor can you,

nor most others across thousands of years.

 

 

Some, I'm told,

had the depth of curiosity,

 

 

imagination, vision, and fortitude

to prove that it was so.

 

 

And so it is,

as by now we all surely know.

 

 

Round

is found here

- on this earth which hangs suspended

 

 

as if on an invisible cord,

dangling in the immense void -

rhythmically reflected in myriad things.

 

 

I know not how,

nor do most of us, nor do we care,

 

 

which is a shame

 

 

for round is found

most everywhere.

 

 

"The soul goes round upon a wheel of stars and all things return....Good and evil go round in a wheel that is one thing and not many.





 

Do you not realise in your heart, do you not believe behind all your beliefs, that there is but one reality and we are its shadows; and that all things are but aspects of one thing; a centre where men melt into Man and Man into God? ..."

 ~ Gilbert Keith Chesterton

 

The Mountain - Sounds of Silence

When we stopped, the silence was absolute.

Walking, the only sounds were the soft footfalls of our boots on the path and the tap, tap of our walking sticks.

Covering the open, grassy hillside - both above and below us - swayed an array of wildflowers...

blue

yellow

red

pink

purple

 white



Up the hill, a few pointed firs and the stark, bleached remains of large dead trees scattered across the open landscape. These, reflecting a long-ago fire and many, many years of severe weather.

Far below, the White River flowed briskly downward, row after row of rugged peaks forming a receding backdrop.

Behind us, and seemingly close enough to touch, the mighty Mount Rainier dominated all. Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, this huge monolith stands as an icon in the western Washington landscape.

An active volcano, it is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S., and spawns six major rivers.

Subalpine wildflower meadows ring this icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks its lower slopes. It is a magnificent sight to behold and truly a work of art, but it has not always been such.

Formed through eons of change within the earth's crust, today's Rainier is the product of uplift, erosion, volcanic action, and time.

The early lava deposits are estimated to be more than 840,000 years old.

The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each more than 1,000 feet in diameter. Geothermal heat from within keeps parts of both crater rims free of snow and ice and has formed the world's largest volcanic glacier cave network within the ice-filled craters, with nearly 2 miles of passages.

Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Because of its large amount of glacial ice, it could potentially produce massive lahars (volcanic mudflows) that would threaten the whole Puyallup River valley.

Northwest American Indians knew this mountain long before European explorers reached the Pacific.

Yakama, Puyallup, Nisqually, Cowlitz and Klickitat fished and hunted in the lowlands surrounding the mountain; hunting parties followed game up the slopes as the winter snows retreated. 

For generations they revered and knew it as Takhoma, Talol, Tahoma, Ta-co-bet and several other names.

Many of the names mean 'The mountain that was god', 'big mountain', 'snowy peak', 'mother of waters' or 'place where the waters begin.'



The city of Tacoma takes its name from one of the original native names for Rainier. Indeed, this ancient volcano can be seen throughout the greater Puget Sound area and on an exceptionally clear day is visible from Portland, Oregon to Victoria, British Columbia.

The outward appearance of this geologic wonder belies the tremendous power and fury that lie below. It is a reminder that constant change is a given, things are not always what they seem, and that appearances can be deceiving. In one way or another, all of us here live in the shadow of what is - in a superlative sense - The Mountain.

He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  

1 Kings 19:11-12

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, though the

earth should change,

though the mountains shake in the

heart of the sea...

Psalm 46: 1-2

Memories of Rainier

August 2012