Spirit Daily

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When Time Stands Still: Seeking God And Doing His Will Unlocks Protective Force

By Michael H. Brown

Last fall, when wild fires swept across Southern California, there was another of those cases where an image the Blessed Mother miraculously survived intact. This occurred in the very midst of the inferno at the Whispering Winds Catholic Retreat Center. "Mary was spared," noted the San Diego Union-Tribune. "The fire danced around the statue of the mother of Jesus, leaving a scorched ring as if it were a grim calling card that hell had paid a visit. Don Kojis wags his finger to show how he imagines her scolding the horrific firestorm that swept through the backcountry last fall. 'It was like Mary said, "Uh-uh, you go around me. This is holy ground.'" 

We love these accounts: Heaven in active protection. It happens all the time. Or there are other little miracles. You're in a hurry and can't possibly have enough time to get to where you need to go and yet every traffic light goes your way and the clock seems to actually stand still. Do we acknowledge God for that? Haven't we all had that happen?

"The other day I was heading to early-morning Mass as is my daily custom and was running late by at least four minutes," notes one person we know. "The church is about 13 minutes from my home, and I usually time it right to the minute. I was going to be late -- no question about that -- and yet I was determined not to be impatient. I didn't let my blood pressure rise when I hit red lights. I shrugged off a car ahead of me that was unusually slow. I prayed. And as I made the final stretch, I kept glancing at my watch and my watch kept saying 6:57 a.m. -- for much longer than what seemed like a minute. The clock seemed like it was actually frozen."

Anyway, against all odds, I got to Mass on time.

When we're patient and longsuffering and have faith -- when we pray -- the Lord comes through for us.

We find His favor. And He protects. "It was customary for me to walk on my way home coming from adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament," says one reader. "One day, I was stung by numerous bees and all I could utter at that moment were the words 'Jesus' over  and over again.  I knew the power of the Most Holy Name and I was aware He would protect me. I came home without any swelling or anything that would indicate I was stung by bees. Praise be the name of Jesus!"

From Southern California we hear from Vanessa Browne.

"The protection of God has been too numerous to count over the years," Vanessa, an aspiring screenwriter, says. "As a convert to the faith, I have felt the mighty protection in so many ways from pending danger often caused by my own stupidity and carelessness. A few years back when I was going through  a very difficult time, adjusting to single life and the responsibilities of a single mom with a former home in foreclosure and a lawsuit wrongfully filed against me, I was driving back from my attorney's office. As I was rounding a bend in the street, I looked up and there was a car heading in my direction, going full speed. It was like he didn't even see me. As I swerved my car to the right and prepared to be hit, I cried out to God and in the next moment it was as if someone had grabbed my wheel and I looked up and the car heading in my direction seconds from hitting me was pushed to the side.

"I couldn't believe it! I started praising God and pulled over and sat for a while, shaking and praising with stunned belief!"

Or take it from a reader named Alcaria Valdez. "My son and I had just completed our doctor's office visit and were waiting in front of two elevators," she relates. "Before either elevator arrived, I told my son:  'Why don't we make a bathroom stop before we leave because we have to stop at the grocery store before going home?' So we stepped back to place our coats and books on a small bench that was there. Just as we stepped backward, one of the ceiling lights crashed down where my son had been waiting for the elevator. Had we not stepped backward, my son would have been severely hurt. The light fixture had been placed in a cylinder on a very high ceiling, so it created quite a crash. Thank you, my wonderful Lord, for taking care of us!"

And then there is the Blessed Mother.  

"My home was burned to the ground last April by vandals who had stolen my mother's things after her death," writes Ann Gardner of Gerlaw, Illinois. "Shortly after I called the police and reported this and who it was and where they made their methamphetamine, my house was burned.

"The next day I was standing by the smoldering ash, in tears, at seeing everything I had ever owned a charred pile of rubble, when I looked down on the sidewalk and saw my mother's old plastic rosary, unharmed. It had been in her desk in the front room the day of the fire. There was no ordinary way it could have gotten where it ended up. My tears turned to tears of joy knowing that my heavenly mother as well as my own mother were watching out for me from heaven."

Often, God has a plan that is different from our own. When we "go with His flow," things fall into place in a way that is far better. And when we live in faith -- when our lives are a prayer -- God watches us all the more closely.

Do you live in an area where there are fears of an earthquake? Pray that you are protected. Do you live in a city where hurricanes could threaten? Consecrate your town to the Blessed Mother. This is especially important in a time that is seeing ever more extreme weather. Remember: God even controls nature.

Take that from a woman named Barbara Canuel in Melbourne, Florida. "I was driving on the interstate in a thunderstorm, praying that I would make the remaining few miles home safely," she wrote us. "I saw a bolt of lightning coming down just ahead of me. The lightning forked as I was driving through, and hit ground on both sides of the road."

April 2004