John and Bill Shaw are brothers, they are both Catholic priests, both
in their 80's, and inseparable. A few years ago, they decided to take
the hiking trail up Mount Adams in Washington State. But about
two-thirds the way up the 12,281-foot climb, they were tired. So they
headed back down the mountain, arriving at the trailhead 10 hours
after their start. It was then they discovered that Fr. John Shaw had
left his eyeglasses on the trail, probably on a rock.
Three days later, they ventured up the trail again to try to find the
glasses. They began to realize how futile their search might be, among
all the “nooks and crannies and rocks and snow...and all the people
who had been on that trail.” They were about to give up when Fr. Bill
Shaw (“he’s such a man of prayer,” insists Fr. John) said: “We haven’t
prayed yet to St. Anthony.” St. Anthony who was very special to their
mother, and to them as well. So they prayed. And as they finished the
prayer, they looked down at the ground. The glasses were there at
their feet.
He is one of the great saints of the Catholic Church, and one of the beloved--even far beyond Catholics themselves. Untold numbers of people turn to him, still, when there is loss. And strangely--at least strangely in the usual ways of the world--those things often quickly turn up. And often they turn up in the most unexpected--even seemingly miraculous ways. Let the stories begin.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Lost Glasses
