I’m sixteen years old, and as all teenagers do, I’ve often struggled with my spirituality. One of the things that has helped me most is looking for miracles. The truly interesting thing is that these miracles weren’t exactly what I had in mind, nor were any of them very spectacular. But there are miracles for me.
I had a research paper due, and if I didn’t get a rubber band right away, I was going to get a late grade on it! So, with three minutes before the late bell, I ran out into the hall to find someone with a rubber band. As I entered the hall, I noticed my fifth-grade social studies teacher walking down the hall. Calling for her, I ran to her and (quickly) said “hi” and asked her if she had a rubber band. Sure enough, she did, and gave me an extra one “just in case someone else needed one too.” I thanked her and rushed into the room as the bell rang. The girl sitting beside me asked “Does anyone have a rubber band?”, at which point I handed her my extra rubber band and collapsed contentedly into my desk.
I still do not know why my fifth-grade social studies teacher was at my high school that particular day.
In October of 1998, I went to Chile with about 500,000 other people for the Continental Catholic Youth Gathering. When we prepared to go to the vigil Mass that evening (along with the other 500,000 folks), about half our group decided to go down early to wait for us in section A. When we arrived, we got our stuff and prepared to go in the gate on the far right where section A was, but just as we prepared to enter, the officials closed the gate and told us to enter somewhere else. So, we picked up our things and walked about five blocks to another entrance at section J. As we entered, we just happend to notice three people from our group walking around; they spotted us, and led us to the place they had had to go to, section M.
We just happened to run into them taking a stroll in a crowd of 500,000.
One of my taekwondo students died at age 46 from a heart attack several weeks ago. The funeral was quite sad, and we went to the graveside service during a gray, cloudy, windy day. As we prayed for his soul, however, the wind died and the sun came out for exactly three minutes, until we finished praying. At that point, the sky again clouded over, and it remained dark and dreary for the entire day.
I firmly believe that we can see miracles when we try. If I pay attention, I’ll notice four or five miracles a week, and I’m not talking about cheesy things like life or the grass growing. I’m talking about strange things that just don’t normally happen to people. God? Luck? It stinks not to know for sure, but whenever you think you’re losing faith, just check out the nearest miracle playing at a location near you.
