Last week, as I prepared to go to work, I swiveled my office chair from beneath my desk and I saw a vision that I was not prepared to see.
It was Steele, the male Samoyed dog that Cathy and I affectionately called our first son. Steele died almost four years ago and I haven’t mourned for him in quite some time.
In a literal blink of my eyes, Steele’s spirit occupied the body of our Husky/Akita mix, looked at me, flicked his tongue like he was getting ice cream off his nose, and then he was gone.
When Steele died, it was a tragedy for me. Whenever one of our animals dies, it is traumatic. In the strangest ways, my “children” come back to visit every now and then. I never know when they will come and I never know why they come.
It doesn’t matter.
Seeing “my boy” again made me cry. It was a miracle, that Steele’s spirit came to visit me.
The other night I watched a Weather Channel special about the May 22, 2011 tornado that decimated Joplin, Missouri. Watching the documentary brought tears to my eyes because it brought back so many memories of my 12-day volunteer experience there.
The people of Joplin, and of surrounding communities, taught me that things are just things, but you can never replace people. They lived the mantra of “The Miracle Of The Human Spirit” as they helped one another rebuild their city and rebuild their lives.
I heard miraculous stories of triumph-over-tragedy. I witnessed a “spirit” that I’ve never seen before. I met a lot of heroes during my time in Joplin.
Spirits come to me (in various forms) and keep my spirit alive.
I am a miracle. You are a miracle.
If you are reading this, you are a hero. You have survived trauma and tragedy. I’m certain of it.
Be the miracle, you want to receive, for someone else.
It is in helping others, in volunteering, in offering our expertise to a friend, in sending an encouraging email, in being kind, being thankful, and in being significant that we will ultimately create a Miracle of The Human Spirit for ourselves.
Keep your spirit alive.
Be Kind. Be Thankful. Be Significant.
Peter
