Years ago, during a meeting at church, I asked the congregation during prayer if they wanted to see a miracle as if to challenge them. Several hands went up, so I challenged them to try to forgive someone they had a hard time forgiving with that level of desire. Then, more defiantly, a member asked if the pastor had ever done that. I remember boldly sharing two examples and leading the congregation in prayer.

All of us humans are put on this planet to live in unconditional relationships. With the exception of a very few. Failure in this relationship has serious side effects, depending on the extent. Social isolation is a surface phenomenon, and in severe cases, psychosis is the result of withdrawing from social relationships. Here's something I believe almost everyone would agree on. There is one thing that I believe almost everyone would agree on: relationships are more difficult and challenging in our daily lives than political or economic issues.

Just last night (11 August 2023) my wife and I watched The Miracle Club, a 2023 Hollywood movie with the Kiwi community, as a group. Thanks to the generosity of the Kiwi Church, my wife and I got to see it for free. Of course, someone else would have paid for it. As an Irish movie with a Christian background, the overall atmosphere was quiet and somewhat boring. I didn't go in with any special information, and I think I barely understood 60-70% of the movie because it wasn't subtitled.

I yawned about 30 minutes into the movie. For about an hour, I watched intently, both out of curiosity to know what was going on and to see what lessons I could take away from the whole movie. It shows the relationships between an old and a young woman, an old and a young couple, a daughter showing up late for her mother's funeral, and a priest and his parishioners in a church, etc. in a small town. Four of them embark on a journey to escape their daily lives and enter a holy bath where they can experience a miracle. They travel overnight in a classic small European bus and arrive the next day.

From this point on, we see the members expecting a miracle, hence the title of the movie. I don't want to give anything away because it would be a spoiler. However, the main characters do not experience any miracles in the holy water. However, in the process of taking the bus back and forth, misunderstanding is transformed into understanding, pain into freedom, regret into gratitude and hope in the present life, relationships are restored, and the movie ends with a happy ending.

I left the movie with my wife of 29 years, just the two of us. We walked to the car and talked. We talked about how our ordinary lives are the biggest miracles... Members of the Miracle Club seem to be people who are grateful for the everyday life they have. Just like the rest of us who live for today...