Honoring Our Voice
By sharing miracle stories…we are connecting with each other through grace, acknowledging the presence of the Divine in each of our lives.
-The Miracle Collectors
March 26, 2023
Springing forward is not always easy. It takes some getting used to before we once again feel comfortable with our body's natural rhythms. This discomfort can also be found in the news of the day as we are faced with uncertainly, risk, and injustice. It is a time that while we may want to hide under a rock, it is also a time to find and honor our voice to spread goodwill. Joan tackles the issue of voice in this month's blog, seeking to renew our minds in this season of rebirth.
Joan: This was a travel week for me and as I was in the Houston airport searching for something to read, the headline of this week's People magazine (3/27/23) "It's a Miracle I Survived" caught my attention. It's no wonder because as you might expect I am always on the lookout for all things miracle. While I loved the headline, it illustrates a personal conflict I've had to live with, if not to fully understand. On the one hand, there is the fact that a major national magazine recognizes people want to hear about miracles (one has to think that there were other quotes from the interview with Brooke Shields that could have been used instead), and yet on the other hand, so many of us are afraid to acknowledge or talk about the miracles that occur in our own lives. It's a conundrum I continue to strive to understand and work to eliminate in talks around the country. By starting out sharing my own miracle story, I also share vulnerability. It turns out this willingness to be vulnerable is a big factor in having others decide to share their stories as well.
That's why I felt bad this month when a speaking engagement was cancelled by a priest who was afraid of what we might say. (After all, Katie and I have approached miracles in a fairly open and universal way.) It's almost funny thinking of being banned for talking about miracles and for giving people a safe environment to talk about their experiences. In an effort to protect his congregation, the sad thing is he deprived them of potentially finding their voice and acknowledging the presence of the Divine in their lives. We know that miracles are not confined to joyous events; sometimes they occur at times of fear or when danger is present. Giving voice to these difficult situations and finding the grace to move forward is a gift worth sharing, as People magazine recognized.
Miracles surround us all; whether its in the sheer fact of survival or in the gifts we are given in unexpected circumstances. The miracle continuum we often talk about is broad; it stems from events that have birthed nations to coincidences of fate that smile on us individually. One of the greatest miracles maybe in finding our voice, in not hiding our light or our unique gifts. We know of so many we admire who used their voices to rail against injustice in the world - Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel to name but a few. There are also many whose names we do not know, who have used their voices to protect the rights of others. There is no doubt that the power of compassionate and honest voices can be used to heal the world.
A quote from Romans spoke to me as I was re-evaluating the use of my own voice and thinking about our upcoming speaking engagements. Was there something to this priest's concern that I should acknowledge and perhaps back off in my belief that God speaks to each of us in His own way? It was something to consider. While I admit to not being an avid bible reader, the verse that arrived in my inbox this week, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will," (Romans 12:2) renewed my confidence in the importance of continuing to speak out about miracles. It felt like a situation akin to the story of St. Augustine where the first words he saw in the bible he opened, struck a chord and came at the right time to help discern the path ahead. If, as we say, everyone has a job and with free will the choice is up to us to accept it, I know this job has my name on it. There can be no better reason to continue but that it seems it's what I'm called to do.