Miracle Thinking

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

– Albert Einstein

I was diagnosed with Turner syndrome at the age of 15.

Turner syndrome is a genetic condition that is a leading cause of miscarriages. It often results in short stature, infertility, heart and kidney issues, and cognitive and social difficulties. Since that diagnosis, I have been profoundly aware that life is a miracle. I am unsure if I knew it before the diagnosis, but I know that it was a watershed moment. At that point, I had several existential questions: Why did I survive? If my life was going to be different, how could it still be meaningful? And finally, How could I pay this gift of life forward?

My response to the diagnosis over the years has been fits and starts of awareness and an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

I believe in miracles now more than ever. I have learned that there is no timeline for miracles. I have learned that I don’t always recognize miracles when they happen. I have learned miracles don’t have to be huge acts. I have learned I see miracles in nature. I have learned I don’t have to be stingy in what I call a miracle. Seeing a world where miracles are abundant is a good thing. Our ability to believe in miracles might be what allows cures for diseases, inventions to solve life’s problems, and peace in times of war.

I have a few thoughts for people who don’t believe in miracles.

I understand fear and cynicism can protect us from pain, hurt, and disappointment. I understand the world is rife with seemingly insurmountable issues. I understand sometimes reality is a bone crushing experience. Hold tight. The cost of fear, anger, and cynicism is too great. Setting a goal, even/especially a big goal, and working towards it makes an outcome irrelevant. The miracle is the starting and the doing, not the result. Forgiving in the face of being deeply wronged and hurt is always the right action. The miracle is the lightness of a heart that forgives. Creating something out of nothing risks having a piece of our soul rejected. The miracle is how a creator is always newly seen and understood—the world benefits when we create things.

Here are a few things I know we must do when we live life as though everything is a miracle.

We must take care of our children and elderly, for they are miracles. We must protect our planet, for it is a miracle. We must create, for creativity is a miracle. We must live lovingly, for love is a miracle.