Dylan Stafford

Last summer, I lost a pair of prescription glasses in the Colorado river, in over 20 feet of water. I was in Texas for my thirty-year college reunion with my Aggie buddies. I lost my glasses when I tumbled ass-backwards off a kayak that I dumbly stood up in as I came up to the boat dock—a boneheaded move on my part.

My college roommate Brady fished the glasses off the bottom of the river. He had a casting net in his truck, and the confidence and determination to find my glasses. I had already assumed the glasses were gone for good and given up.

It took Brady six tries. He cast the net in a pattern, into the deep river, up against the steep cliffs as the last light faded from the day. He added a “Hail Mary” type prayer to the last, and successful, cast and he pulled out my glasses.

I could not believe he had done it. It was a miracle. I was amazed then and I’m still amazed now, six months later.

As I look forward into 2022, I’m looking for more miracles like that, small or large. Unexpected moments of grace. Undeserved. Unplanned. Much bigger than me and all my limitations. Divine doings that merit my attention and gratitude, but which will easily exist unobserved if I busily, multitasked-ly, noisily tramp roughshod over the gifts in each day.

Slow your roll Stafford. Your vibe attracts your tribe. Keep your head when all about you might be losing theirs. Surround yourself with people who want what’s best for you. Don’t waste time hating the haters, always remembering that they too are children of God, and that hurt people hurt people.

Seek ye first; That’s the game. Look with new eyes, through this new pair of glasses, baptized out of the green depths of the Colorado river. Look for the miracles. Seek and ye shall find. Will I be a fisher of what’s best in people?

Happy 2022