A Neighborhood Event
by Pastor Marty
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This morning the redbirds’ eggs have hatched and already the chicks are chirping for food. They don’t know where it’s coming from, they just keep shouting, “More! More!” As anything else, they haven’t had a single thought. Their eyes haven’t yet opened, they know nothing about the sky that’s waiting. Or the thousands, the millions of trees. They don’t even know they have wings. And just like that, like a simple neighborhood event, a miracle is taking place.
Mary Oliver
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Sometimes we think miracles are miraculous events beyond the limits of reason. Sometimes we think that miracles are supernatural or other worldly. Sometimes we think that miracles are those things that we simply cannot explain. True. It is all of that and more, much more.
Poet Mary Oliver reminds us that miracles are neighborhood events. They are localized happenings and they happen just like that…all of the time! They are events, occasions, and experiences that happen every day. They are events that are ordinary, and yet, profound. They are occasions that fill us with awe and strike us dumb with wonder. They are experiences that open our eyes to the hidden wholeness of life and remind us to count life as a blessing. Miracles draw us into the ordinary – and then beyond, into something that is bigger and greater than ourselves. Miracles point us to the constant work of God and these miracles are all around us!
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And just like that…we see a harvest moon or wake up to the dawning of a new day. And just like that…we see and hear the migratory birds going south for the winter. And just like that…we see the leaves turn yellow, orange, and red but return next spring as green. And just like that…we hear a lullaby playing in the hospital announcing a new birth. And just like that…a life is saved or rescued or transformed. And just like that…a kid is encouraged, a single parent is given respite, an elderly person is visited, and a whisper to the wind – it is good to be alive!
And just like that…and just like that…a simple neighborhood event, a miracle is taking place all around us! My hope is that you will see the many miracles of daily life and pause…to give thanks for God is good!
-- Pastor Marty
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