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Chapter 6 - Christmas MiracleA miracle happened that appeared to have been started at Christmas time. It came to a head a few weeks into the New Year. It happened without anyone working for it specifically, or praying about it, or hoping and dreaming about it. It simply happened on its own, so it seemed, which never really happens in the real world. Obviously we had done something, touched upon some profound truth that had caused movements in perception that we weren't even aware of. Maybe it wasn't really big enough to be called a miracle, although to me it had all the appearance that something was moving again that had been stalled for so long that I could barely remember when and why. What happened now appeared like a breakthrough, like sunshine pricing through the opening between clouds in an April sky. But can this be called a breakthrough? Isn't a breakthrough something that comes as the result of a victory at the end of a long struggle? I had given up struggling ages ago. So it wasn't the result of a victory, but it was a sea-change event nonetheless, one that happened unexpectedly like a tide coming in that wasn't on any tidal chart. Where did it come from? It happened that day right on our beach, several weeks after Christmas. I was alone at the time. Sylvia hadn't come with me that day. She found the northern winds too cold that time of the year. But the winds had changed and being dressed for the cold, the weather didn't feel cold at all. Tony wasn't with us that day. He was on a mission for Fred. His return was delayed. Otherwise he might have joined me. He loved walking in the beach in the cold northern breeze. We both found the icy gusts invigorating. To my surprise Heather came down to the beach and joined me on my walk. The last time that happened was so long ago that I couldn't remember when it was that we stopped seeing each other. This time she came running. She came from the far end of the bay. At first it looked like she was jogging, but she was waving at me. Also, I couldn't remember when I had last seen her jogging on the beach. I stopped and waited for her. Our last day at the SandCastle came to mind, that day long ago when she disappeared out of my life as if a page had been turned that one can't flip back to. And then months later it had been on this very beach that we met again, but that new page too had been slowly turned over again. And this time too there seemed to be no way possible to flip back to what had been lost. It seems that history can't be reversed, but can't we step beyond the impasses that a history of errors has erected? Can't this be done by draining the errors out of that scene that had soured what had once been precious? As I saw her come rushing towards me, suddenly a different thought came to mind, the thought that something terrible had happened and that she needed my help. I stopped waving and started to run in her direction. We were both out of breath when we finally met. "What's the emergency, Heather?" I asked. She didn't answer. Instead she hugged me with a kiss after the hug. "Wow, I love those emergencies," I said and smiled. "But really, what are you saying?" "Not saying, Peter! I've been thinking. I've been thinking about us." "And you have come to a conclusion that is as big as that, which warrants a kiss? Wow!" I said smiling from ear to ear. "That must be something huge." "Not huge, Peter, but wonderful," she said. "And it is all based on Ross' Christmas present for us all. I have come to the conclusion that we are all brothers and sisters in the most basis sense of the word. We are all children of the same family, the family of mankind. We may live in different houses, but this doesn't change the basic fact that we are all one family. We have all known that, of course, theoretically, but Ross' scientific discovery has given the theory a new meaning. And here lies the proof that comes with this profound principle. Helen talked about a lateral lattice, but Ross raised this idea to a universal principle that isn't optional. It's no longer something that we can accept when it pleases us, and deny when it does not. A principle is a recognized truth that isn't optional. We have to accept that unless we want to live as hypocrites and lie to ourselves." || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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