The Light of the World
Miracle stories offer a beam of light, illuminating a path
between the human and the spiritual experience.
-The Miracle Collectors
It's our favorite time of year, looking forward to the holidays with our growing families, and enjoying the sights and sounds of the season. This month, with holiday lights aglow wherever we look, Katie writes about the meaning of light at Christmas time. We hope that love, light, laughter, and hope find their way to you at this special time of the year.
Collecting Miracle Moments One Story at a Time.
Joan and Katie
The most well-worn cliché about light is the one with light at the end of the tunnel. Often used, perhaps, because it is so apt. The human experience ensures that all of us understand what it is like to be in the tunnel. And we seek the light because we believe it is there; somewhere in our toolbox is the virtue of hope. At Christmas, we celebrate both light and hope with the birth of Jesus, “the light of the world,” who gifted to us a roadmap, to be that light, to bring hope to one another, especially when it is needed the most.
I met a lovely woman this summer, Joni, who had lost her son-in-law a year before in a farming accident. He was a big Philadelphia Eagles fan, as was her grandson, but Joni, her daughter and granddaughter were Kansas City Chiefs fans. In the fall of 2023, after all they had just been through, they decided to fly to Kansas City where the Chiefs were playing the Eagles. Dressed in their respective fan gear and up on the club level enjoying a pre-game snack, Joni’s family began a conversation with three older gentlemen sitting at the end of their table.
One of the gentlemen, an Eagles fan, asked her grandson, “Looks like your family has split loyalty. Why are you wearing an Eagles hat?”
“Because they’re my dad’s favorite team,” her grandson replied.
“Well, where’s your dad?” the gentleman inquired.
“He died in August,” came the reply.
The gentleman felt terrible, but he engaged with Joni’s daughter, and he revealed that his spouse had also been 41 when she had died many years before. He told Joni’s daughter he would like to fly her son and the whole family to an Eagles game later that season on his private jet, which he did. Coincidence, commiseration, connection and the spark of hope that Joni’s son-in-law is in a good place and watching out for them.
Grand gestures like private jets to special games might be more memorable, but any kindness lingers in our consciousness, and generates hope for the future - yes, light at the end of the tunnel - even if it’s a simple recognition of circumstances and a reaching out to connect. Rumi wrote, “Never lose hope, my dear heart. Miracles swell in the invisible.” In a season where literal lights, blinking and bright, greet us at every turn, it is good to remember what is beyond and behind the Christmas decorations – a Divine hope for peace on earth, and goodwill toward all, a reminder for all of us to be a light in the darkness for each other. (Katie)