the most subtle miracles . . .

the most subtle miracles happen all the time and, duh, are mostly those we aren't noticing.

take for instance that we can see a cup and without actively thinking about telling our muscles to reach for it, we have it in our hands. how'd it get there? well, we could dissect the millions of actions it took at light speed in our brains and synaptic firings and intricate wirings in our nervous system and musculature and sensory information in our fingertips to make it happen (and still NOT drop it)....

but we'd be here all day.

and then, oh! what to put in that cup? there's another miracle: tea? milk? coffee? hot cocoa? dirt for a plant? water for a flower? water for you? soup mix? SOUP MIX? who thought of taking coffee beans, grinding them up and putting them with HOT water? who did that? or the people in asia who discovered that tea wouldn't kill humans? so don't even get me started on soup mix.  

how about the action of reading? recognizing the letters, stringing them together, spacing them just enough and then remembering what they mean. what about writing? taking that so-called passive activity of reading and making it active. taking what's IN OUR HEADS and putting it on paper - as "mundane" as a shopping list or as fantastic as a wonderful book or speech. it's up to us. we are the creators or our own little miracles on earth.  we are miracles.

how 'bout this -- what about when we look up, outside, around, above, below? and if we think purely a cellular level about the fact that we are seeing something... the pupils react precisely, the image is inverted and reversed and refracted and then fixed by the brain to align with the properties of gravity, so that we can make sense of what we're seeing... the colors we see can be communicated to others in the same way they see them; the shape of things... the sound of the leaves that crackle beneath our feet (feet! oh God, don't let's go there, feet are incredible). the feeling of the brush of wind against our cheeks (due to the peach fuzz attached to nerves) and then of course the fact that there is wind at all; and the feeling of warmth on our skin from the sun.... all these are things we take for granted: miracles. every single one of them. so when we think about them, in this very granular way, we realize there is so much more.

paper bags. paper. i mean, c'mon... tree pulp and water? brilliant!

then the things we aren't expecting? those gifts from Heaven? it's truly humbling. like that we wake every day. that we breathe. that our wounds heal; that a broken heart can mend; that a smile can change a life; that a hug can change the world.

miracles are everywhere. it's another miracle, i think, when we realize we're surrounded by them. so do, do love all miracles -- from finding a cure for diabetes to finding a penny -- and watch what happens... suddenly you're lighter in your stride, puffier in your chest and brighter in your eyes: you love yourself. and as my obstetrician said when we heard Thing 1's heartbeat for the first time: "that's God."

thank you.