We Believe in Miracles!

Just a stone’s throw south of Edgar’s Mission lies Mount Diogenes, better known as Hanging Rock. It is a true miracle of nature. Its volcanic cliffs have stood for over 6 million years. Like ancient sentinels, they watch over the land, her people and her animals.

At Edgar’s Mission, miracles unfold too. Though ours are not carved in stone but are born of kindness. Something just as timeless, yet too often forgotten.

And no less a miracle has unfolded before us in August than a little brown-and-white calf named Ace Ventura.

When Ace arrived just over a week ago, we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. The sickly calf had been down for some time, and though his spirit was bright, his limbs lay silent. Even pinching them for sensation yielded nothing.

Yet something told us to press on. And so we did. Then one by one, the miracles revealed themselves.

That Ace, against all odds, did not succumb to the brutal weather, starvation, parasites and motherlessness.

That he was even found at all in a rural landscape where profits so often trump sentience and animal protection laws are few.

That those who could not give Ace the care he needed still refused to give up.

That our team, unwavering in their belief, never once faltered in their resolve that Ace was worth it.

And now, perhaps the greatest miracle of all: Ace is the captain of his own adventures. Though those adventures are, for now, only a few wobbly steps, they are his, and his alone, to take.

Yet even as we rejoice, a quiet truth lingers. Neglect may still cast its shadow. But we dwell not on the past, for we cannot change it. Instead, we look to the future, knowing that every kindness gives Ace his best chance to thrive.

Life itself is a miracle and Ace reminds us of this daily. We find it in his cheery grin and those big bug eyes of his. In his small but triumphant victories, like the way he can hold on long enough to do the longest pee. In the way the calls of the other calves excite him and our cheers help him find his strength. In the way he shows that hope can survive in the most hopeless of cases.

But perhaps, most of all, Ace reminds us that when we choose unity and compassion, we discover our best selves. For no one walks away from Ace without feeling a little lighter, more alive and connected through shared empathy.

So today we celebrate Ace and the healing power of kindness. Never doubt that miracles are everywhere, if only we choose to see them.

May your life be a miracle of another’s.