I have been in the Air National Guard for over 20 years and am grateful for the service we have been able to provide to fellow airmen and women. I’ve been privileged to participate in numerous humanitarian missions, both in the United States and around the globe. I consider it a privilege and an honor to serve, just like my grandfather did during World War I.
The other day, I finished a Saturday drill later than expected. I normally prefer to change into civilian clothes, but it was late, and we ran by a local restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat. As I sat there, an older gentleman came up to me and said, “Thank you for your service, this meal is on me.” He proceeded to hand me a $100 bill. I felt so humble as I accepted it, responding with a simple “thank you.” I knew it would be inappropriate to refuse his act of thanks. I sat there, staring at the money and the other two folks at my table, my heart began to fill to the point it almost burst, I got a little misty eyed. Someone who did not know me, but knew what I represented, was willing to do a very generous and random act of kindness.
The New Testament Gospels mention 37 miracles performed by Jesus. Two-thirds involve healing someone, the most dramatic include raising several people from the dead. Yet the most amazing in my mind, was one that Christ did not know about initially, but which he sensed afterward.
A woman had a bleeding issue for over twelve years and had spent all that she had on physicians to heal her to no avail. As a physician, I can only imagine the sense of despair as she bled, the feelings of fatigue and hopelessness must have been overwhelming at times. She had heard of Christ and thought, if she could just touch his garment, she would be healed. She found the road Christ traveled and waited. I can imagine her thinking that she only had one shot at this, she had to give it her all. So, she reached, she strained with all her might and faith, desperately wanting a miracle. Finally, with her fingers outstretched, she was able to touch the Lord’s garment.
I love the imagery in KJV Luke 8:46, “And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.” Christ asked around him, no one knew who touched him, then the woman came forward from the crowd, announcing that she had been made whole and then Christ said “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace” (v. 48). Can you imagine any better start to that conversation with Christ, to be called “daughter,” a daughter of God. The wave of nervousness I am sure she felt, swept away in an instant.
In the moment that this miracle occurred, Christ had been on his way to heal another. Perhaps his mind was on the young woman he would soon be raising from the dead, yet he remained aware of his surroundings and felt the faith and virtue of this amazing woman.
The evening the gentleman had approached me at the restaurant, I had been a little down. I was questioning the humanity around us and why people do such unkind things to each other; that anger, vengeance and spite can be such a consuming blackness of the soul and mind. Little did this man know that he would be an answer to a prayer in my heart. Much like the woman in Biblical times, sometimes the prayers of the heart coupled with faith, allow miracles to happen. Some may be more dramatic than others, but still answer a heartfelt prayer. May we have a prayer in our hearts, faith in our souls, and virtue and kindness in our actions; perhaps then we can be the unexpected miracle another soul craves.
Dr. John Boston is a local physician, believer in Christ and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.