For You...

 

On My Sunroof

A Little Heart, a Moment of Grace

(Reprinted from the Austin American-Statesman, December 10, 2010)

by Rev. Susan Hawkins Sager

Who knows what prompted me to look at the sunroof of my car that Thursday afternoon. But what I saw stopped me in my tracks.

There, in front of me, was a little heart.

Not an almost, sort-of-like-a-heart, but a perfectly-shaped one about 3 inches long.

Most likely, it was created out of the chance coming together of rain and pollen. Perhaps a wind-tossed leaf helped to create the outline.

Anyway, I can't eally know for sure. Any more than I know what made me stop to look at my sunroof that day. Something about that little heart felt like a belated valentine from the universe. I stood there and smiled. After a few minutes, I wanted proof that it existed outside of my imagination. So I went in to grab my digital camera. Strangely enough, nothing showed up except for a reflection of me taking the photo. How could I see it and not be able to photograph it? I worried that I wouldn't have any record. So I waited until our daughter, Becca, arrived home and asked her to take a photo. She succeeded and finally, there it was: The image of that little heart. What I saw in her photo was even more striking than what I thought I had seen before. You could only photograph this heart by looking down at it, yet the image itself prompted you to look up and out. In Becca's photo, what I saw was not only this heart, but also a reflection of a beautiful blue sky and some large tree branches. The heart was a frame for looking out at the world. And the whole sky was a frame for looking through the heart. I was overcome by what I saw. What a huge teaching to be found in such a small image. And to think I might have missed it. Grace makes its quiet presence known at such unexpected times and places. In the end, a miracle is as much about the act of seeing as it is about what you see. That little image on my sunroof wasn't meant to last. All it needed was a good rain to wash it away. And that's what happened. About a week later, we had a big downpour and it was gone. But that was all right. That little heart had managed to imprint itself on my own heart.  

(Originally published in the Austin American-Statesman, 12/10/10) read article

 

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MIRACLES ... PASS 'EM ON!

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