Wednesday 4 July 2007

To the Miracle Workers

...
A while back I wrote, in The Image of God, how it amazes me how people can take suffering and create beauty from it. Last week my family and I had to deal with that concept on a smaller scale. Not suffering exactly, just loads of irritations, indignations and frustrations.

It would be nice if you could just say, "Stop the world, I want to get off", but life doesn't work like that. Life goes on regardless of how we feel. So we have to take our "lemons" and start planning a good batch of lemonade.. or a good batch of whisky sours!!

Maybe the real miracles lie in the small steps forward we take when we feel too tired to continue rather than the "big" moments. Is there more heroism in leaping into a burning building to save a child once - or in getting up every day and continually trying, never giving up, for an entire lifetime?

Raising my glass of "lemonade" to the true miracle workers:
The plodders,
the doers,
the volunteers and helpers,
the ones who keeps the cogs moving and never get noticed .

Cheers!
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13 comments:

  1. My Bucket of parts4 July 2007 at 15:50

    AMEN! (found your link on Epi's blog...I read him constantly)

    I'm spending the summer trying to forget this past school year. I teach and got caught up in all the horrible politics that can involve education, among other things, and it made this year in education the worst. I wanted out so bad. But I got letters from students (granted they were assignments from the keyboardking teacher) and they thanked me for being crazy, fun and to push them in their writing.

    And that paid off. I forget that I'm there for the kiddos and not the administration and politics.

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  2. Michelle4 July 2007 at 16:55

    Hi Uncle P

    Well said and very true. We all do that - get so bogged down in the petty annoying stuff that we forget the things that really matter.

    ..red tape and politics - two things I wish would go into the trash in this 21st century!

    Thanks for stopping by. Here, have a lemonade, sounds like you earned it! :-)

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  3. Amel4 July 2007 at 17:03

    Let me share your lemonade, too, then, M!!! :-))) Cheers! or Kippis! as the Finns say it. :-D

    I believe that miracles don't always appear in the big moments. It depends on your own vision. Sometimes even some people have a HARD time believing a full-blown miracle. I want to experience all the miracles available in life...

    Here's to determination and perseverance!!! And hope! :-)))

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  4. The Real Mother Hen4 July 2007 at 18:45

    And to the guy called Mike Rowe who does all the dirty jobs (Dirty Jobs Series on the Discovery Channel)... yeah I just thought of him

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  5. Anonymous4 July 2007 at 18:59

    I used to volunteer at Children's Memorial Hospital here in Chicago. I had to stop after awhile because it was too difficult for me emotionally. I thought I would be able to do it since I don't have any children of my own, but I was wrong. The doctors, nurses and volunteers that are there are definitely walking miracles, and allowing more miracles to spring from their actions.

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  6. Epimenides4 July 2007 at 19:03

    No wonder we produce so many lemons in Greece! The country is full of heroic folks. Just think that 20% of greeks are below the EU poverty line, and have to survive with 300euros a month in one of Europe's most expensive capitals! (not to mention the red tape and politics)

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  7. Michelle5 July 2007 at 12:25

    Handing out lemonades all round!

    Amel
    "Hope" is such a wonderful thing. I think it is a miracle itself. Kippis! :-)

    Mother Hen
    I don't know him. I must check that series out. It sounds interesting.

    HollyGL
    Wow, you were brave even volunteering. I don't think I could cope with that type of extreme emotional work. Raising my glass to you as well as to the Drs and nurses.

    Epi
    My sympathies! Northern Scotland isn't that great either, actually. Thank you too - you've given me an idea for my next blog post. :-)

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  8. Shan5 July 2007 at 13:35

    Indeed. Cheers!

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  9. Anonymous5 July 2007 at 15:31

    Great Post (from pluggers everywhere)!

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  10. Unknown5 July 2007 at 22:14

    ... your post reminded me of this line from one of my favorite poems...
    'they also serve who only stand and wait...John Milton

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  11. Michelle6 July 2007 at 09:45

    Thank you Shan and Epi :-)

    Hi Random
    I'd heard the quote before, but I never knew who said it. Gosh! I wouldn't have guessed Milton.

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  12. రామ ShastriX7 July 2007 at 15:31

    Interesting, Michelle.

    Dissonance will be there if one's expectations are not in sync with the "What Is" of that moment.

    This is one thing that Ramana Maharshi cured me of recently: (with some paraphrasing)
    ~~~~~
    "Once the work to be done is identified, other thoughts are obstacles, not the amount of work. Doing the work is itself meditation. Go ahead and do the job with full attention."
    ~~~~~

    This a++itude will really help us turn on a dime and be more responsive to situations :-)

    Swami Sukhabodhananda sums it up succinctly:
    ~~~
    From drishti comes srishti
    From vision comes creation
    ~~~~~

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  13. Michelle8 July 2007 at 13:04

    THank you for that very interesting reply, Shastri. I especially like this:

    "From drishti comes srishti
    From vision comes creation"

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