Miracle on Steppington Street

Sometimes we simply cannot explain the outcomes we witness. Some will say this is just chance, but I am a firm believer in miracles. Thursday night I had one such experience. I was out helping the local missionaries in my ward. At one point I was backing out of my parking spot, and I forgot that there was a keypad behind me. Suddenly, my car stopped and jolted forward. I was stunned and looked back to see the keypad right behind my car. I had hit a pole that was protecting the keypad! I couldn't believe it. How could I be so stupid? I had seen the keypad earlier, but totally forgot about it. Certainly there would be a large dent in my bumper, I thought. As I opened my car door, I prepared for the worst. Amazingly, I could find no sign of the collision. After looking closer, I found a small scratch down the length of my bumper. It is hard to see in this blurry picture, but take a look for yourself. The scratch is down and to the left of the bright line.

To me this was a miracle, a gift from a loving God. Said another way by the prophet Nephi, "The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith" (1 Nephi 1:20). Miracles do not produce faith, but rather miracles strengthen and confirm our existing faith. This and many other experiences are evidence to me that miracles  still occur today.

Dealing with Broken Glasses

Last night I played an intramural racquetball match with another student from Turkey. I've been playing racquetball now for about 3 years. It's a very fun sport and can be played in any kind of weather--because it's played on an indoor court. Since I started medical school I've played about once a week with some of my classmates.

When playing racquetball it's a very good idea to wear eye protection. Without it, you leave your eyes vulnerable to serious damage. The ball moves fast and is the perfect size to create suction in your eye socket, and you don't have to be a doctor to know that's a dangerous thing! About a year ago I broke my racquetball glasses. In an attempt to save money (a whole $10) I glued the part back on and wore a hat to keep the glasses on my face. I've dealt with this inconvenience for a year, and over time the glasses became more and more difficult, such that I had to adjust them after most points.

During my match yesterday, the glasses finally gave out. They kept falling off and I felt bad for delaying the game and creating a hazard to us, so I took off my glasses. This distracted me as I was worried about being hit in the face. I can't totally blame my loss on this fact, but I feel like it certainly affected my performance. It could have been easily avoided if I had taken a few minutes to buy a new pair of racquetball glasses. So what did I do right after the game? I went and bought a new pair of glasses...something I should have done many times during the last year.

What's the parable here? Well, when you know something is wrong in your life, take care of it. Fix it. Mend it. Replace it. Repent of it. Don't let it consume you and ruin the happiness and success you could have otherwise. That is the message of the Savior Jesus Christ. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).