What are your thoughts on miracles?
I’ve just finished reading It’s Official It’s A Miracle by Annette Mace, a blow by blow account of her journey with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, from symptoms and diagnosis to her complete release from its grip on her life.
I’m no footy head. I do read the newspaper, but to be completely honest, as far as I’m concerned it ends after the classifieds. What’s that? There’s a sports section? Nope. Don’t believe it. So it was hubby who alerted me to an article on former rugby league player Jarryd Hayne (aren’t we the stereotypical couple!). This guy used to play fullback for the Parramatta Eels here in Australia before deciding to switch codes and countries at the height of his career. He’s kind of a big deal. To clarify – for those who, like myself, start to glaze over when sporting acronyms are bandied about – Mr Hayne now plays for the 49ers, an NFL (National Football League) team in the US. Everyone’s been like, ‘Why’d you do that?’ And Hayne gave an answer recently for an official 49ers podcast. “Every person in the Bible got put out in the wild,” he said. “God wanted to test their faith and see what they would rely on. And I felt like that, for me, was …
People were leaving the room. They left in groups and pairs, digesting the information in a noise of conversation, shuffling feet and doors swinging open to the bright day outside. One young man held back, waiting. He finally approached the speaker when the room had cleared, tears falling, broken. Tanya Cavanagh and the Teen Challenge team had just delivered the Not Even Once project to a Tasmanian high school, giving information, empowerment and hope to young people faced with the option of substance abuse. She said her heart broke when she met this guy. He opened up to her, explaining his extreme emotional pain and the fear that he would fall into substance abuse to cope. He had no sense of self worth; he felt useless and hated himself. “It was an honour to sit with this brave young man and talk with him about the enormous step he just took to come and speak with us; to show him the gifting he has and that there is a brighter future than the darkness and …
Have you noticed the clouds? Seems they’ve been particularly spectacular of late. Were you a neighbour you might have seen me standing precariously on a rickety bench seat on the deck, neck craned to watch the cloud formations as they balloon and morph in a moody panorama. There are those sweet little fluffy white ones, the kind in children’s books, harmless as a bunny loping in the sun. There are the clouds that multiply into an expansive pattern, repeated like ripples in sand stretching out ad infinitum. And (my favourite), there are the clouds that growl. They have steely edges and are backlit to give the illusion of added dimensions. Crispest white is contrasted with rumbling grey, deep and violent against a passive blue backdrop. Can you picture them? Billowing, curling like meringue, and dramatic as the stage makeup for a Broadway show. I balance there, watching the performance, snapping a few pics with my SLR even while sensing the impending disappointment – because my awe always outstrips my technical know-how with a camera. I learnt …
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