“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle”
I prefer #2; some may call this defeatist, giving up this much control of one’s destiny to a higher power, but I believe there is an order to to the universe, and that nothing “just happens”. Every encounter and experience has the potential to be a miracle if we are always prepared to see the miraculous in it, and therein lies our responsibility to recognize and seize the opportunity; service every need as it arises and you will find your ministry.
Consider my time in the crate; regardless of my desire to live, at that time it would appear that I had no control over my own destiny. Sure, initially I railed and tore at the inside of my prison in a frenzy of hunger and claustrophobia, but as my strength faded, it became obvious that my real purpose at that time was what some people might view as lazy or downright surrender; to relax and marshal my remaining reserves of strength.
As a dog, my concept of time is not measured by ticks of a clock; a minute away from dad when he’s in the bathroom stretches into an eternity, when eight hours in the car on a road trip to New Mexico passes in the twitch of a tail. As a result, I have no idea how long I was in that crate before the miracle presented itself.
As I heard the motorcycles approach and ultimately stop, I realized that I had been doing my job all along; staying in the game, so to speak, until it was my turn to play. But here is where I gained a new responsibility, to recognize the miracle for what it was and chark the freaking crap out of the diem, not just that day but every day. This is why I sleep harder, bark louder, poop longer, lick lavishly, and most importantly, love excessively. Some may say that I’m not “trained” properly, but I think it’s pretty evident by now that some rules don’t apply to me, for I am the Charles, and dad and I have an agreement; he does my bidding, and, well, that’s pretty much the extent of it.
So now I charge and flounce through life, giving freely what I expect to receive as if it is my right, and it is. But I also have the responsibility to maintain a certain level of situational awareness, to recognize those gifts for what they are; what good is a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk if you’re so engrossed in your daily drama to even recognize it for what it is? Then again, I also have to be humble enough to accept that gift when it presents itself, as the hand giving is always higher than the hand receiving.
So ultimately both statements are true, only in reverse order; everything is a miracle, a gift, but what good is a gift if you don’t open it? And upon opening it, if you don’t use it? True, miracles are usually found by looking up, but sometimes found by looking down as well, and you may find that by being someone else’s miracle, the life you are saving may be your own.
Oh, and the originator of the opening quote? A man who knew a little something about analytical thinking and miracles:
Albert Einstien
Hmmmm… E=mc2; excitement equals mouth times Chark squared? Dad will NOT be happy to hear of this equation!
