The Miracle of the Deer
The Church in America is in trouble. Sunday attendance had already been declining prior to Covid but has dropped even more precipitously since then even though our churches have reopened. An increasing number of adults say they are not affiliated with any religion making this the fastest growing religious demographic in the country. What is the cause of this change? Is it the Church’s teachings on hot-button issues, a lack of priests, boring church services, etc.? In her book Forming Intentional Disciples, Sherry Waddell presents a compelling argument that the number one factor in this trend is that a majority of Catholics do not think it is possible to have a personal relationship with God. When the bulk of our members do not believe in this essential reason to have faith, it should come as no shock that the Church in our country is in decline.
There is plenty of blame to go around for this problem. Families are supposed to be the primary source of passing on the Faith. I can only speak for myself when I say that although we took our kids to mass every week, sent them to Catholic schools, and said prayers before meals, I rarely if ever shared my relationship with God with them or taught them how to develop their own friendship with Him. As for Catholic schools, there is a great deal of emphasis on learning the sacraments, Church history, rote prayers, etc. but almost no training on growing closer to God. (A retreat once a year is a good start but just does not cut it).
When it comes down to it, the whole topic of sharing your faith and love for God (aka evangelization) is taboo in American society. If we are to rebuild our Church, we have to break this taboo. Jesus addressed the topic of evangelization in Matthew 5:15 when He said: “No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.” Over the next few posts, I would like to share some stories from my life where I was completely overwhelmed by God’s love for me. Some of these stories are dramatic while others are more subtle. I know that God is acting in my life in a thousand unseen ways every day. But every once in a while, I get a glimpse; the veil is parted for just an instance. And I stand in awe that the creator of the universe wants to have a relationship with me…
The Miracle of the Deer
Several years ago, my wife Mollie and I packed our six children into our white Chevy Express van which we affectionately referred to as Moby and began our journey to New York to attend my sister-in-law Mary’s wedding. We got an extremely late start because I had to work that day. The trip was going to take about 10 hours so we knew going into it that it would be a very late arrival.
As usual on road trips, Mollie packed plenty of games, candy, and snacks for the kids to keep them busy. Around 11pm, the sugar highs had worn off and everyone but me had fallen asleep. I was pretty excited to get a reprieve from Barney music and turned on my own playlist. I set the cruise control to 70 mph (the speed limit was 65) and enjoyed the peace and solitude for a while. An ample supply of caffeinated drinks was keeping me alert during the endless stretch of nearly abandoned highway through Pennsylvania and New York.
Around 1 am, I was starting to fade a little bit despite the caffeine. We still had a few hours to go and the lull of the interstate was starting to get to me. That’s when I heard it. A calm yet commanding voice simply said, “Slow down.” It wasn’t audible but rather something I heard interiorly. The sleepiness I had been feeling immediately disappeared. Without thinking, I dropped the cruise control down to 55 mph, well below the speed limit (I never drive below the speed limit on a trip). At some point within the next few minutes, something astonishing happened. In the middle of my lane on the interstate stood an enormous buck. He was just standing there looking straight into my headlights. Even at my slower speed, I had to swerve and just narrowly avoided hitting him. There is no doubt in my mind that at 70 mph in my previously drowsy state, I would have either struck him head on or lost control of the van in an effort to avoid him. There is no way to know the injuries we would have sustained in such an accident but I truly believe they would have been catastrophic. God had intervened in a miraculous way and saved us.
I wish I could tell you that when I got to the wedding, I told everyone there about this event and praised God’s role in it. In truth, I told a few people but instead of crediting God, I used some generic term such as “divine intervention”. (I didn’t want to break the taboo and talk about God with others). I decided to share this story today to correct this wrong and to give an example of how intricately involved and present God is in our everyday lives. It’s about time I gave Jesus his due and publicly thanked Him for saving us that day. I am ever grateful to Him for His love for me and for His patience with me even when I have not acknowledged Him to others. His love is true and kind and merciful.
For me, “The Miracle of the Deer” is just one of many times that God has shown his desire to have a deep and close relationship with me. As I said earlier, I will be sharing more stories in upcoming posts. Most of them will not be as dramatic as this one but will still reveal how God loves each one of us infinitely. Please consider sharing your own stories of how God acted powerfully in your life. You can do this in the comments section on Facebook, on the One Step Further blog site, or by sharing with people you see every day. Let’s break the taboo once and for all!