The miracle in question doesn’t really have anything to do with walking on a treadmill per se – it’s just that I happened to be on the treadmill when yesterday’s big miracle occurred. (If I had been on a teeter totter at the time – not likely, I assure you – this would have been my Teeter Totter Miracle.) Thanks to the big weekend just past, with the final performances of the show, Monday and Tuesday felt like strange days where both Kathy and I suddenly had all of this time on our hands to breathe and relax. . . an utterly alien and delicious feeling indeed. Tuesday afternoon, I decided that I had been lazy long enough and headed off to Razor Sharp. . . honestly not so much because I was hungry for exercise as because I needed to finish reading Jed Horne’s “A Breach of Faith” – the definitive book about Katrina- in time for my interview with him this morning. So off I went, determined to stay on that treadmill until I had finished the book completely. (Unlike many books I “read” for the morning show, I needed to read this one very thoroughly- skimming just wasn’t going to be sufficient.) And indeed, by the time I finished the book I had logged just over five miles- my biggest distance yet.
It was 2:50 – I had been on the treadmill not quite an hour at that point – when suddenly it dawned on me: It’s Tuesday! I’m supposed to be teaching XXX right now at Holy Communion. As a matter of fact, his lesson should have started at 2 and I should have just finished his lesson right about now. Arrrrrgh! And it was especially regrettable because this particular student comes from out of town and it’s between a 30 and 40 minute drive for him and his mother.
Then I realized, Why didn’t they call me from church when I didn’t appear? They have my cell number.
Then I grabbed my cell phone and discovered that it was turned off – oops – and when I turned it on, it showed that I had six new voice mail messages. Arrrgh again! I figured that all six were probably from this student and/or his mother, wondering where the heck I was.
All this time, I’m still on the treadmill . . . having not missed a step . . . but with my morale definitely beginning to sag.
With considerable trepidation, I dialed *86 and then my password to check my messages. . . the first four were various questions and requests on a variety of topics. . . the fifth message was from the student’s mother. . . I grimaced as she began speaking. . .
“Greg, this is XXX, YYY’s mother. “ I grimaced some more.
She continued.
“I’m so sorry to say that we can’t make it today for YYY’s lesson. I have to blah blah blah . . . “ I wasn’t listening at that point because I was too busy whooping and hollering and cheering and singing “Now thank we all our God” for being so fortunate / so darned lucky / so blessed.
The last two miles of my five miles felt a whole lot better! There’s nothing like barely escaping nasty misfortune for putting a little extra spring in one’s step.