We pray for a course in miracles only when something terrible has happened; someone is sick or hurt or that true love has found another. We hurt so deeply and we beg for help but nothing happens. Is nothing listening or is all the blabbing from the pulpit true, that we are undeserving of divine attention?

Many times, we just don’t give divine credit where divine credit is due. Such times are labeled coincidence or luck. They rarely announce themselves with a cup-rattling boom and blinding flash of light, however.

The following true story recounts how we never know what miracles we dispense in our day to day lives. It reminds me to be thankful for the events of the day even if I don’t see them all as positive. I never know when..well, Ill let the story tell it.

The street missions of Los Angeles help anyone who walks, stumbles or crawls through their doors. All except one man. He was know as O’Sullivan. He was so mean that he was banned from all street missions. One day, a man named Bob from a 12 step program responded to a phone call from O’Sullivan whom he eventually tracked down to a filthy little room in the basement of an old hotel. The man was drunk.

The shivering, skeletal wretch lay on an old mattress soaked with urine. He had soiled himself but he could still talk. By coincidence, Bob had once been in this man’s shoes. He dragged a wooden box as close to the bed as his tear ducts would allow and told his story.

He made sure that O’Sullivan knew that he himself had been where the poor wretch was at that moment. He spoke of his personal miracles of recovery and well being. He told it all.

Bob’s talk lasted longer than O’Sullivans attention span. The man snored loudly as Bob pulled an old blanket over the skeletal drunk. Maybe the man had learned something, Bob thought as he walked away. One could never tell.

Some years later, Bob was a speaker at a convention. In his talk, he mentioned his episode with O’Sullivan and how his action had yielded nothing. He told his listeners that they should not get discouraged. You never knew what part luck was to play in any circumstance.

After the talk, Bob was approached by a well groomed young man. His teeth were clean and his eyes sparkled. He was rosy cheeked and well dressed. The young man extended his hand and shook Bob’s hand vigorously.