The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode.
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Today is episode 163: February 5th
Hi friends. Monday, February 5th, 2024 was a day positively full of miracles for me, and maybe it was for you, too. Gosh, I hope so. Today I thought I would tell you the story of just some of the miraculous things that happened in my life on that day in the hopes that you too experienced miracles not only on that day but on this one, too. And if you did, I hope you will tell me about them.
Okay, here’s my story:
On Monday, February 5th, I woke up around 7:15am. And friend, that’s the first miracle. My body which somehow knows how to sleep and restore itself while I am sleeping also knows how to wake up every single day. It’s happened every single day so far in my fifty-two years of life. It does this in response to an internal body clock or circadian rhythm that I did not program nor control and this wake-up is supported by this rectangular-shaped mini-computer I keep by my bed. It’s amazing. Anyway, I can program that, and the sounds of my husband who, miraculously, also woke up that morning, also helped my body to wake up. Isn’t that unbelievable?
Well, my brain then communicated to my body that it was time to get out of bed, which my body totally did. I swung my legs around and set my feet on my bedroom floor. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I have a bedroom AND a floor. Don’t even get me started on the fact that I have heat in my home and a refrigerator and a freezer that keep all of my food at exactly the right temperature. Also, I have food – so much of it that I can cook and eat and share. It’s unbelievable. Miraculous.
As I made my way to the kitchen, I filled my electric kettle with miraculously filtered running water and I let that heat up to drink hot water, lemon and salt, the way I start every day. And I ground these coffee beans that came to me all the way from a completely different part of the world. Crazy. I prepped my morning smoothie with mangoes and bananas that came to me all the way from another part of the world. And I didn’t even have to do anything about that. They just showed up in a store near me and I brought them home. There are nutrients in the Greek yogurt, protein powder, and almond milk that just somehow know where in my body that they should best be stored, and these become actual energy that I totally used for the rest of that morning. How does my body know how to do this? Miraculous.
Next, I got into – okay you are not going to believe this – but when I stepped outside of my home that I totally have, there is this big silver thing there that when you sit in it and push a button and turn a wheel, it takes you anyplace that you want to go. I can cover so much ground in this thing so much faster than walking, and I use it every day to do just that. I’m really so lucky.
That morning, I used my key to enter this space where I sing and dance and play instruments with young children and, friend, THAT IS MY JOB. I sing and dance and play instruments with young children and that’s my job for which I am paid actual money. If anyone had asked me when I was a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, I probably would have said that I’d want to be a music teacher and here I am, doing this for over twenty years in all of these different places, and not because I planned it or went to school for it, but because my life circumstances miraculously produced a need and then by Providence I crossed paths with some pretty incredible people, and my brain and my body just learned to do this job in time, and well, if you knew the whole story, you would know for sure it was a miracle.
When I got home, there was this sweet animal waiting for me. Also, animals exist! There are thousands of them, in all shapes and sizes and colors, and they just exist in all places all over the world. Incredible. AND I TOTALLY HAVE ONE in my home, and she knows who I am! Crazy. Anyway, she and I walked together, which is so weird if you think about it, and we felt the sun shining on us which we both like a lot. That sun is 91.648 million miles away from us, and I only know that because of science and scientists which – that’s totally a job whose whole purpose is to find out how things work – amazing, but anyway the warmth from that fiery ball not only feels amazing but it keeps us alive. We don’t have to do anything about that to make it work, and that’s pretty miraculous, don’t you think? And the Earth that we are living on is tilted at just the right angle to keep it all moving the way it’s designed for us and the animals and don’t even get me started about the trees and the grass and the flowers. Oh, my goodness.
Friend, I have flowers in my home. There are tulips and hydrangeas and one greenish white rose, and FLOWERS EXIST. I can’t even explain to you all of the differences in color and shape and how these things just rise up out of the ground for no reason except that they are gorgeous, and also the bees. Oh, don’t even get me started on the bees and the honey and pollination, and all of those miracles. It’s just too much.
This morning while I was eating my miraculous breakfast, I opened this square block of paper. Someone a long time ago learned how to make paper out of trees and water, it’s a whole thing. And you can write on it and draw on it, it’s crazy. But anyway, there are, like, these symbols printed on this paper and my brain totally knows what it all means. Can you stand it? My brain has known what those symbols mean since I was like, two years old. It’s wild when you think about it. When I look at it with my eyes which, my eyes are like the best camera there is, by the way, and I have two of them that work pretty well! Well anyway, when my eyes look at these symbols, my brain knows what it means. Someone sent those symbols out and now I can take those symbols in whenever I want. There are millions of these paper blocks, made from people all over the world in every language from since time began, and I can get any one of them that I want, for free even. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you about the sheer power of what my library card can do! And all morning and as I tell this story to you, my lungs are breathing, and my heart is beating, and my blood is pumping, and I don’t have to tell them to do this at all. I never do. It even happens when I’m sleeping, which is just amazing if you ask me.
Outside, I hear my wind chimes, which means that weather is still moving like it has been for centuries, blowing in the months and the seasons on a pattern that I did not make or could even have conceived of, really, but on which I can both rely and plan. I’m in winter now but I know it will be spring, and soon. What an amazing thing to know.
The day was Monday, February 5th, 2024. My fifty-second February 5th and maybe my last one ever, who knows? But this one was full to the brim of miracles, of elaborate elements and systems that I did not put into place for myself and which I could not have planned or created, but which sustain and benefit me all day and all life long. There was so much beauty in that February 5th, so many graces, so much for my senses to take in that it was just pure gift. On that day at 1:15pm, I stopped and wondered at the embarrassment of riches that that whole day had been so far, and there was so much more to go. Albert Einstein said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” And that day, Monday, February 5th, 2024 was just absolutely full of them for sure, and I guess I just want to remember that.
And I’m wondering, friend, how about you?
Thanks so much for being with me today, friend. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Thanks so much for rating, reviewing, subscribing and most importantly, sharing this podcast with a friend. That makes a real difference in growing our community, so thanks. If you would like to support this podcast financially, there are a couple of ways for you to do that in the show notes, along with some resources related to today’s episode, so do check all of that out, but before we go, let’s pray together.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
God, I want to experience my one precious life as though everything is gift, everything is a miracle. Give us eyes to see. For us and for our dear ones we pray in the name of Jesus and wrapped in the mantle of our Mother Mary, amen.
Thanks so much for listening today, friend. I hope you have a truly miraculous day, and I’ll see you next time.
Show Notes
Today we explore a small sampling of the miracles I experienced on February 5, 2024. I hope this episode helps all of us to seek and find the miraculous in our everyday.
If you’d like to connect with me, find me on Instagram, at my website, or on Substack. If you’d like to help support this podcast financially, there’s a way to do just that on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow.
Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.
Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week’s topic in a deeper way for yourself:
1. Today, notice the parts of your life that maybe did not seem like miracles at first, but which actually are. Contemplate the fruit and vegetables you eat and how they grew and made their way to you. Contemplate the people whose paths cross yours. Contemplate your miraculous body and all that it does for you. Treat today as an adventure and notice all you can. Breathe and take it all in, and give thanks to God today.
2. Song: Everyday Miracles, by Sara Groves
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