What God Might Bring

The year 2008 was a tough one for Americans. In the early months, gas was four bucks a gallon, and when gas prices fell it was in concert with the economy auguring into the ground like an F-16 with the afterburners lit. I predict the sales numbers for December will be devastating, and we’re going to start seeing a lot of fine, honest, hard-working folks going under. Things are going to get much, much worse.

There will, however, be some good news. Much of this is news we don’t pay much attention to, but perhaps we should start. Miracles unfold around us 24/7/365, but instead of marveling at the occasions, we focus on the stock market and political pundits and video tape of the riots in Greece. Yes, we need to be informed, and we need to engaged, but how about making 2009 the year we pay attention to some of the little miracles?

For instance, people are still going to ignore the statistics, throw caution to the wind, and walk down the aisle and pledge themselves to one person ‘til death do them part.

We will still get the chance to see geese migrating, flying in formation and honking encouragement to their leader.

Doctors will continue to see patients who can’t pay.

Firemen will run into burning buildings to help people they don’t know.

People will still stop to lend assistance to drivers who’ve been in an accident.

Tens of thousands of young men will voluntarily answer their country’s bugle call, and join the armed forces to protect the things they believe in.

Tens of thousands more will join the Peace Corps, and deploy to places they didn’t know existed.

Grass will continue to push through cracks in the sidewalk.

Volunteers will continue to serve the disadvantaged, and Americans will remain the most generous people on earth.

Priests and Pastors will continue to preach the Good News from the world’s most unchanging book.

Puppies will still have puppy breath.

The seasons will change, and nature will continue to thrive.

Friendships will continue to grow, and friends will make sacrifices on behalf of those who have stood beside them.

The laws of physics will continue to be enforced, and gravity will keep us glued to earth with just the right amount of pull.

Turtle teams will lend pre-dawn assistance to the turtle moms who lay their eggs along our shores.

First crushes will carry on making middle school boys hapless and tongue-tied.

Graduation day will still generate dreams of the future for the graduates, and tears of pride from Moms.

Duct tape will continue to mend, while salt water will continue to corrode.

Men will still stand around open fires discussing the fire making skills of the man in charge of the fire.

Children will still value a bedtime story, and struggle to stay awake for just one more chapter.

The tails of excited Labradors will continue to sweep the sit-arounds off coffee tables.

People will see the Grand Canyon and the ocean for the first time.

Little boys will play Army, and little girls will have pretend tea parties.

Grandparents will spoil their grandchildren, and revel at the joy of handing them back to their parents.

Families will still dine together, and manners will be passed along to another generation.

Sweet Corn and Vidalia Onions will make their way onto our tables, then disappear before we’ve had a chance to tire of them.

Cats will still view their owners as staff.

A ball of fire 93 million miles away will continue to provide tactile warmth. Mammals will continue to breathe oxygen and emit carbon dioxide, and plants will continue to breathe carbon dioxide and emit oxygen.

Kids will shriek with excitement at winter’s first snow.

The rules of kick the can, freeze tag, and Mother-May-I will be passed along to a younger age group.

We will continue to reap what we sow.

Atlas Shrugged, Lonesome Dove, and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy will be discovered by new readers.

The arrival of spring will generate unexplainable feelings of hope, and the arrival of fall will do the same for melancholy.

Mathematic problems will continue to yield one, and only one, solution. Kids will catch their first fish.

Smart, talented people will forgo the money and serve in social work and at non-profits.

Farms and gardens will continue to yield an unimaginable variety of fruits and vegetables.

Miraculous healings will occur as a result of prayer.

Smiles and laughter will still be free to spread around to friends and strangers alike.

Pigs-in-a-blanket will remain irresistible.

Birds of prey will continue to see their dinner from hundreds of feet in the air.

Bats will eat their weight in mosquitoes every day.

Caterpillars will become butterflies, and tadpoles will become frogs.

Someone will learn new information, and thus change their mind.

The breeze will still come off the ocean.

Honeysuckle vines will dispense heaven, one drop at a time.

Wild flowers will arrive in unexpected locations, and kudzu will consume another five percent of the southeast.

Parents will still think their toddler is smarter and more attractive than any previous toddler in history.

Electricity will continue to flow at the flick of a switch, and airplanes will fly, in the sky, six miles high, across the entire United States in four hours.

And pluff mud will carry on holding the world together.

The most miraculous of all, of course, will continue to be the miracle of a loving God, who will continue to seek a relationship with us, despite our shortcomings and mistakes and ceaseless complaining. His Bible will remain available for all who seek to know his mind. His Son Jesus will remain available to all who seek to know his love and forgiveness. And His Holy Spirit will remain available to all who seek to know his powers of redemption and renewal.

The coming year will, in the end, be what each individual decides it will be. Times will be hard, and the economy will founder, but truly amazing miracles will unfold around us every second of the day— and we need only the light to see them. So we have a choice to make, you and I: We can curse the darkness, or we can light a candle.

In 2009, I’m going to try to do more of the latter.