SHARING A MIRACLE

       One of my favourite sayings comes from the Jewish tradition: Don't expect miracles, but recognize them when they happen.  This is with the understanding that miracles are not super-natural events, as we now view them, but any event or moment in which the holy is experienced. It might be a revelation brought on by the sight of a new leaf on a tree, or by an unexpected word from a stranger.
      Judy and I bought the one and only cafe on this lovely Amherst Island some six years ago, deciding to run it in the summer and sail in the Bahamas in the winter. Judy had grown up here and I certainly felt at home among the varied folks here.
      We did this because it was 'right'. The cafe would never be a 'business' in the usual sense, but the island, any inhabited place, needed somewhere to eat and talk. The cafe hadn't been open in five years. We knew that we couldn't run it forever, and indeed, having no experience what-so-ever, didn't know if we'd last more than the first summer. We did.
      It soon became apparent that our expectations, business-wise, were fairly accurate. We did our best to involve others on every level knowing that sooner or later, it would have to be run on some kind of community basis or close.
      After five years of summer operation, we ran out of steam. A wonderful island cook took it for this last summer and did a fine job, but one summer was enough.
      A month ago, talking around a table with friends after an event, the topic of the cafe came up, along with the possibility of making it an island project. After a few bottles of wine, everyone there was really excited about the concept. We set a date to meet in a month, time to spread the word. We did. Last week, meeting here at the house a friend shares with Judy and me.
       It was a miracle. Only a start, certainly, but a miracle, never-the-less. In this culture, everywhere we look and hear, the pressure is to be independent, alone and self sufficient. To rely on others is a sign of weakness; to do things, anything with others, shows that you're not strong enough on your own. If you need help, hire it. Keep control. Call the shots. Any time that people take a serious look at co-operating on any venture is a miracle, a visible sign that love (the Holy) is among us and within us. Any time we put the welfare of the whole above ourselves, any time that we really understand that our welfare does depend upon the whole, the holy is present.
      There were over twenty people represented in body or spirit. All that talent and experience, talking about the possibilities and sharing their hopes, doubts and wants. It was wonderful. We were so caught up in the moment and the challenge of the event and future that it is only now that I've realized how wonderful the night was.
      I have no idea what will become of the idea. I certainly hope that it will take form and will succeed, that the cafe will become a place of great food and fellowship, for the 'clients' and those who share in the running of it. It could provide much needed employment for island students and raise funds for other projects. But, if that one meeting is all that happens, it will still be a miracle to me.