John Haffert, in his book, Meet the Witnesses of the Miracle of the Sun, states flatly, “It was the Miracle of the Sun which defeated the Red Star in Portugal.” The year was 1917 (significant in Russia), and the date, October 13, also significant, rattled the Communist government in a small country of Europe. Western Civilization prevailed.

Briefly, the Miracle of the Sun was performed for the benefit of three shepherd children, who said the Lady predicted it, and was the central miracle (though not the only one) of the visions of Fatima. It was a little over 100 years ago, and while Communism has been defeated in the West, we are now dealing with an Asiatic export, the coronavirus.

It looks like we have that under control, now, but I still think we could use some divine coincidence to help us.

It is said that Gandhi kept the Old and New Testaments within easy reach of his sleeping place, and read from one of them daily.  He was once asked why he didn’t become a Christian.  He is said to have answered, “Because I never met one.”

When I read that, I couldn’t believe he would say something so stupid.  Of course he never met a perfect Christian!  Christ said he didn’t come for the perfect, but for “the lost sheep of Israel.”  He paid special attention to sinners like Zacheus, the tax collector, and the unnamed woman by Jacob’s Well.  I believe he came for me, too, and I am far from perfect.

Apparently Gandhi was among the imperfect.  I am sorry that shut him off from the joys of Christendom.

The Lord tells us that whatever good you do, don’t let the right hand know what the left is doing. In other words, keep it secret. Isn’t that his way of doing things? When he answers one of my prayers, isn’t it a month of Sundays before I am aware of it?

When I send an online charity a donation, I have to let them know not to send me a thank you note, because then Loretta will find out (she usually opens the mail) and I’ll have all hell to pay for squandering our finitude.

But I’m not a spendthrift; I just see the practical application of biblical advice. That’s one of the reasons I’m doing so well — so far.

It is always tough to get our priorities right. And life definitely has priorities. Recently a friend died of a heart attack. My wife looked at me when she heard the news, and said, “But she had cancer.” Then she looked at me and added, “But you never know.”

I decided then and there to straighten out my priorities. There are many things I want to finish before that heart attack, but only one stands out. To complete the life I’d set out to do in following my ideals and had already partially completed, that was my goal. I wanted my life to make sense, to be a completed, admired whole.

True, my model had died on an executioner’s cross. But afterwards, it turned magnificent. May mine not turn out a failure; an apparent failure before some vindication is OK.

One of the most surprising people to come out of Europe recently, Angela Merkel, from communist East Germany, nevertheless showed her Christian roots (her father was a Christian pastor) by accepting over a million refugees, most of them Muslim, in 2015. The move cost her party many votes at the ballot box, but Angela’s action was one of the great humanitarian displays of the century.

As she hoped, nations of the European Union have come forth to adopt 1,400 unaccompanied refugee children that Greece was stuck with— from Syria, no less. I am looking for Switzerland, even though it is not a European Union member, to extend its hospitality as it did in World War II. One of my next-door neighbors benefited from such a program.

I hope Switzerland has not become self-satisfied in its good deeds. As we become prosperous, we tend to forget those who are less fortunate than we are.