Miracle Potential
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple of deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle—do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider how each new day is an opportunity to live miraculous goodness into the world.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is.
- Attributed to Albert Einstein by Gilbert Fowler White
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not see it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Food for Thought
As a kid, I was all about superheroes—Wonder Woman and She-Ra were my favorites. I would spend hours imagining I had miraculous powers like them—powers to transform the world and take down evil forces with my sword of protection and my own version of choreographed, martial art reenactments. I was captivated by the idea of being able to change the world in an instant. To work miracles.
Recently, my daughter asked me, “If you could have one superpower, what would it be?”
I thought about it. What power would I have above any other? Invisibility, the ability to fly or read people’s minds, or, like Wonder Woman, to make people tell the truth?
When I finally answered, I told her that I wanted to be able to heal—not just bodies, but to heal perspectives, to heal relationships, to heal the wounds made in our world, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that harm creation and all of our being.
There is this desire that exists within us, even as young children, to offer something special to the world. It is as though we are aware of something unique and precious within us—the possibility that perhaps, hidden within our own capabilities, is a gift of miracle potential.
But by the time my daughter asked me that question about superpowers, I realized something had changed since my childhood ideations of heroism. It wasn’t that I didn’t still want to solve all the problems of the world, but simply that, along with those hopes, a good measure of reality and disappointment had settled into my heart.
The truth is there is a lot that needs healing, there is a lot of suffering, a lot of hurt and brokenness—too much, really. And on particularly overwhelming days, when the world just feels rotten, it feels like my little spark, my little light of miracle potential, wore out long ago with my She-Ra costume and my Wonder Woman crown.
If you’re anything like me, you feel so small and insignificant, like your capacity will never have the reach it needs to make a difference of any value. And that little spark of miracle potential kind of flickers in the face of it all, and we start to wonder if miracles are even possible.
Isaiah is preaching to a community in exile. Their world has been upended. They have no home to call their own. Their families have been torn apart—loved ones lost in the struggle of war and famine and displacement. In their minds, God has abandoned them.
Yet into this abyss, to these people devoid of hope, Isaiah proclaims boldly that, not only is God with them, but God is about to work something beautiful and new in their midst! A miracle! Even now! It springs forth for all creation to witness and participate in!
God is about to do a new thing!
From the beginning of time, God is doing new things in the world all the time and sometimes that is through us!
We might not have a magic lasso of truth, or a pegacorn to fly us swiftly to moments of need, but I have seen how acts of love and kindness have made a miraculous difference in my own life and in the lives of those around me. I have seen how hands and feet hold the capacity to channel God’s love and goodness into the world in ways that bring about change and possibility.
Our miracle potential most often comes in the small, ordinary moments—when we hold the door for the person behind us, when we create spaces where all can be fully themselves, when we bake cookies for our neighbor down the street, when we show kindness to a stranger, or respond to someone else’s pain with compassion. It may not feel heroic or particularly special, but we have to remember that it is through these small acts of kindness and love that Jesus first began changing his world.
Sure, we all wish we could lay hands upon the hurting brokenness in our world and set it aright with our healing, glowing touch. But in facing that we are not superheroes, let’s not forget that our hands do, in fact, have the power to heal. And it is through those ordinary moments and small acts of kindness that we seem to make the most remarkable difference.
Take some time to go for a walk—or maybe just look around right where you are—and notice all of the miraculous things happening all around you.
Strive to be a small miracle for someone else—listen deeply, and offer your assistance to someone in need.
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
God of Surprises,
Help us to see how our small acts of kindness and love are making the world around us better in really miraculous ways.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Ask each other the question: “If you could have one superpower, what would it be, and why?”
Discuss ways you can be a miracle to others in the world.
Share ways you have experienced a miracle. Perhaps it was the love and kindness of someone else.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Ask your kiddos: “If you could have one superpower, what would it be, and why?”
Ask what makes someone a hero. Do they know of any, or do they have any heroes in their own lives or communities that they’d like to celebrate?
Go for a walk and point out all the miraculous things that you see—birds flying, trees growing, the sun shining, etc.
Meet our Welcoming Voice!
The Welcome Table Team - We are “The Bunce Girls!” Originally from Lexington, North Carolina, we were raised surrounded by music, justice, and faith. We spent most of our Sunday afternoons gathered around an open table with family and friends where the food was plentiful, stories and laughter connected our hearts, and where the presence of each individual was held sacred. It’s those moments that have inspired The Welcome Table.
To hear more from our team throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
Here are Five Things to Remember When Setting Your Own Welcome Table!