This year, the first three days after solstice have brought three "miracles", or what I think of as miracles.
Sunday morning, just about the very first thing I saw was a bald eagle in flight. This is not a rare sight where I am at the moment, but still, they continue to be miraculous. When I was young, you never ever saw one, and they were eventually placed on the endangered species list, only (thankfully) to bounce back in recent years. I'm not interested in the political symbolism or the science. It is simply that eagles are magnificent. I feel privileged to be in their presence.
Monday morning, something even more awesome. It had been an extremely cold night, below zero Fahrenheit, and there was fog developing as the sun rose and evaporated some of the frost. Somehow, this combination of factors created a rainbow, a column-like one with its foot literally in the snow of the yard of the house I am living in! I mean, you hear of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but to my knowledge, I have never seen the literal "end of the rainbow"! There was no pot of gold, except perhaps in my head, but it was a remarkable moment...a remarkable little miracle in the midst of world craziness.
And I write this too early on Christmas Eve morning to see anything outside, but my third miracle was hearing on the radio, perhaps for the first time, Jessye Norman singing "Sweet Little Jesus Boy". What a glorious voice. What gorgeous musical simplicity. And what a fine 20th century miracle, that you push a button and out comes some of the most harmonious, breathtaking music ever written or performed. Widespread access to great music is a human-created miracle, the one I will miss the most if all goes topsy-turvy.
Whatever it is that you celebrate over the next few days, even simply getting a much-needed day off, blessings. May a few miracles come your way!
