Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Just another ordinary night with the sheep… as the shepherds walked to the fields where the flock grazed, I can imagine that the conversation swirled around the ordinary things in life. One may have been commenting on how his knee was acting up. Another may have been lamenting that he was unable to find a wife. Another hadn’t slept well and it was going to be a long night.
Miracles happen every moment. Every heartbeat is a miracle. Every baby born is a miracle. Every breath is a miracle. Walking is a miracle. Reading is a miracle. Remembering is a miracle. Ask a paralyzed person if walking is a miracle, a blind man if seeing is a miracle, a person losing memory to Alzheimers disease if remembering is a miracle – the answer will be a resounding yes.
Albert Einstein said, “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.”
What if we started living life as though everything was a miracle? What if every breath became a reason for thanksgiving? What if we viewed every person as a miracle straight from God? What if every plant, animal, and even the stones on the ground became a source of fascination for us?
Too often, we wait for the angel choir to begin singing. We expect a star to appear above our heads. We willfully remain blind to the miracles all around us. We refuse to see the blessing in every breath. There’s a great probability though that we won’t see an angel and no heavenly host will sing to us. We must choose to see the miracles all around us.
In this Christmas season, choose to appreciate the miracle of family and friends, choose to embrace the miracle of independent thought, even when we don’t agree with the thought. Choose to love our neighbor, even when he doesn’t look or worship like us. Choose to love our body, with all it’s aches and pains and wrinkles. Choose to rejoice in the miracle that God loves us, even when He knows us better than we know ourselves.
Miracles are found in our ordinary moments. Blessing arrives one breath at a time. As Albert Einstein said – we choose how we will see life… Choose to see everyone and everything in life as a blessing, a miracle straight from God this Christmas season.