Life's a little thing! Robert Browning once wrote. But a little thing can mean a
life. Even two lives. How well I remember.
Two years ago in downtown Denver my friend, Scott Reasoner, and I saw something
tiny and insignificant change the world, but no one else even seemed to notice.
It was one of those beautiful Denver days. Crystal clear, no humidity, not a
cloud in the sky. We decided to walk the ten blocks to an outdoor restaurant
rather than take the shuttle bus that runs up and down the Sixteenth Street
Mall. The restaurant, in the shape of a baseball diamond, was called The Blake
Street Baseball Club. The tables were set appropriately on the grass infield.
Many colourful pennants and flags hung limply overhead.
As we sat outside, the sun continued to beat down on us, and it became
increasingly hot. There wasn't a hint of a breeze, and heat radiated up from the
tabletop. Nothing moved, except the waiters, of course. And they didn't move
very fast, either.
After lunch Scott and I started to walk back up the mall. We both noticed a
mother and her young daughter walking out of a card shop toward the street. She
was holding her daughter by the hand while reading a greeting card. It was
immediately apparent to us that she was so engrossed in the card that she did
not notice a shuttle bus moving toward her at a good clip. She and her daughter
were one step away from disaster when Scott started to yell.
He hadn't even gotten a word out when a breeze blew the card out of her hand and
over her shoulder. She spun around and grabbed at the card, nearly knocking her
daughter over. By the time she picked up the card from the ground and turned
back around to cross the street, the shuttle bus had whizzed by her. She never
even knew what almost happened. To this day two things continue to perplex me
about this event: Where did that one spurt of wind come from to blow the card
out of that young mother's hand? There had not been a whisper of wind at lunch
or during our long walk back up the mall.
Secondly, if Scott had been able to get his words out, the young mother might
have looked up at us as they continued to walk into the bus. It was the wind
that made her turn back to the card -- in the one direction that saved her life
and that of her daughter.
The passing bus did not create the wind. On the contrary, the wind came from the
opposite direction. I have no doubt it was a breath from God protecting them
both.
But the awesomeness of this miracle is that she never knew. As we continued back
to work, I wondered how God often acts in our lives without our being aware. The
difference between life and death can very well be a little thing.
Comment:
Miracles often blow unseen through our lives.
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please
authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances
dictate.
Thanks to Randy Walker
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