By Andru McCracken
There has been much written about gratitude and its salutary effects on people and society, that’s not what this editorial is about, instead it’s about the really important role of the third party observer.
This week, I spoke to a lovely couple from Kamloops that were in what could have been a really awful car crash. When their SUV left the road that snowy road, through no fault of their own it was anybody’s guess what would happen to them.
Remarkably, they came out almost completely unscathed.
Rita and Barry Saville are nothing if not a spritely good natured couple, but like everyone, especially seniors there is a real peril in injuries that reduce mobility and the ability to do the regular day to day things we all take for granted. We’ve written in this newspaper only recently about just how terrible it is for seniors to take a simple fall.
Though their car is a write off and isn’t going to be replaced by insurance, and even though the costs of vehicle recovery are large and the inconvenience is terrible, something remarkable happened that early August 16th morning.
Corporal Jacob Joslin who attended the scene has it right: this was a Christmas Miracle.
Being a third party who is for all intents and purposes unimpacted comes with a particular grace: the ability to see this incident for what it is.
Would that we had the grace to see the daily miracles in our own lives, the tremendous people we are inveigled with, the many near misses and mercies of fate that allow us to lead the lives we do.
It’s easier to see the catastrophes that surround us.
This holiday season I’d love to challenge our faithful readers and contributors to do just this…
Would you like to share the miracles you see happening around you? Consider writing the Goat to share.
Would that we had the grace to see the daily miracles in our own lives, the tremendous people we are inveigled with, the many near misses and mercies of fate that allow us to lead the lives we do.
