Holiday Miracle

Bob's Holiday Miracle

By Rebecca Fine
"Can I really do this?" Bob asked himself. After all, he'd never even laid eyes on the woman and her two daughters until a few minutes ago, when he'd pulled into the gas station to fill up the tank.
He'd barely glanced at the rustbucket sitting on the other side of the pumps, hood up. Guess she's having some car trouble, he thought as he swiped his credit card and started the gasoline flowing. Lucky it didn't happen out on the highway or on some deserted road in all this rain ...
"Excuse me," came the voice from behind him, startling him out of his idle wondering. The woman smiled a bit nervously and said, "Could you please give us a jump start? The battery seems to be dead."
"Sure," he answered. "I guess so." It's really only a few minutes out of my day, Bob told himself. No big deal. "Let me just get my jumper cables out of the trunk," he said.
A few minutes later, though, it was clear that the situation was going to require more than a simple jump start. "Well," Bob told the woman, "looks like you're going to need a new battery. This one seems to be shot."
The woman's face fell. "Oh," she said softly. "I'm up here from California with my two girls and I don't know what we'll do. I don't know anyone here, and I just don't have the money for a battery. Well, thank you for trying."
Bob stood there in the glare of the station's fluorescent lights, and although what happened next took only a moment, it seemed much longer to him. This isn't just an annoyance, he told himself; this is an opportunity. An opportunity to really PRACTICE what I've been focusing on — a chance to put my faith in abundance into some real action. A chance to do something for someone else that really matters. And a chance to see if I really do have faith in abundance after all.
But maybe it's some kind of scam and she's a con artist just trying to get money out of unsuspecting "good Samaritans" while they're in a holiday mood. Who knows?
Then his thoughts swung back the other way again: Well, it'll be around $100. That's a significant amount of money. It's not that I can't afford it, but it's not exactly like I have extra hundred dollar bills just lying around either, or no other obligations. It'll be a pinch, but ... should I just DO it? Can I? Giving big chunks of money to a total stranger in need — that's not me. At least not the OLD me. But ...
And then Bob heard the words coming out of his mouth: "Look, it's Christmas. Why don't I just buy you a new battery as a gift so we can get you and your girls back on the road?"
"Oh!" The woman's hand flew to her mouth as tears welled up. "Oh, I don't know. That's so kind of you, but it's so much to ask."
"You didn't ask," Bob said. "Let's just go inside and see what they've got." A little embarrassed, he looked down and absently toyed with the battery cables. Hmm, that's odd, he thought. I don't remember the cables being loose. But they were — loose enough that the clamps twisted around on the battery terminals.
"Thank you," the woman said softly. "But let's just try it one more time," she added, and climbed back into her car. Why not? Bob thought, and stepped back to give her the OK.
You've already guessed it by now, haven't you, Gentle Reader? She turned the key and her car started right up!
But that's not Bob's Holiday Miracle, although it probably seemed like one to the woman and her daughters. Bob's REAL Holiday Miracle happened the moment he let go of his old habitual (and usually unconscious) belief in scarcity and took action based on his new faith in abundance.
What Bob learned that cold, wet day — just two days ago — was simply that we ALWAYS have faith and that we always act in accordance with that faith. Faith isn't something we have to acquire. It's just that most of us, most of the time are putting every ounce of our faith into the idea of scarcity rather than abundance and into the belief that whatever can go wrong, will. We can then tend to demonstrate and focus our thought and emotions on THAT faith by uselessly worrying about, well, about virtually everything! (Can't we?)
As the 19th-century American writer and humorist Mark Twain so wonderfully put it, "I am a very old man and have suffered a great many misfortunes, most of which never happened."
The rest of Bob's Holiday Miracle was learning that simply being WILLING — willing to believe and willing to act — was the key (the key that actually started the car!).
You see, my friend, the old saying about giving gifts really is true: It's the THOUGHT that counts!
Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich. http://www.scienceofgettingrich.net ©2000 Certain Way Productions.
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