Miracle

Miracles come from time to time.  We read about it.  We hear about it.  Sunday sermons preach about it. However, most people probably miss an essential element for the miracle to come into their lives.  To allow miracles to come into our lives we must have ‘Hope’ and ‘Faith’.

My brother’s miracle story tells more about the importance of hope in order for a miracle to happen.

The incident took place in 1936 in central Taiwan.  I was not even born yet.  My second older brother Ting-Kai was 1 year old and was afflicted with serious pneumonia.  Dad and Mom brought him to the hospital.  After several attempts to heal my brother the doctor told my parents that there was nothing he could do to save the child. He asked my parents to prepare for the worst.

Mom was desperate and heart broken.  Uneducated, neither could she read or write, she clung to her last hope, based on what a fortune-teller would tell her about the child’s fate.  By the way, she was very superstitious.  She told my dad; “Mr. Yang, who lives in the next town, is a very good fortune-teller.  Could you go there to ask him about the fate of our child"?

Mom did not want to go herself.  She could not emotionally handle the bad news, not knowing what he would say.

Dad obediently followed her request. 

Three hours later Dad came home.  He told Mom that Mr. Yang said that everything would be all right.  The child’s life could be saved. 

Excited, the couple rushed back to the hospital pleading to the doctor one more time (This time, it was a different doctor from previous visit.).  The doctor reluctantly complied and miraculously, Ting-Kai  recovered from deadly pneumonia.

Mom and Dad were so excited that they asked a professional photographer to take a family picture that included Dad, Mom, and Ting-Kai on the day when Ting-Kai recovered from pneumonia. Dad kept the picture in a very secure album.

Many years after the death of my Mom, Dad said; “ Did I ever go to the fortune-teller to ask for the fate of my child"?   (Dad continued) “No!  I actually did not go to Mr. Yang to ask for the fate of my child.  I just went to a friend’s place, smoked some cigarettes and played chess to kill some time.  After 3 hours, I came home to tell your Mom that everything would be all right.”

Indeed, Dad lied to Mom.  But it was a very good white lie.  The lie saved Ting-Kai’s life.

Dad continued to say very philosophically;  “How can we save our child if one of us does not have  hope or faith that he can be saved"?

In 1995, while my brother Ting-Kai was in Taiwan, Dad brought that precious photo to him.  He told him to keep the photo with him and tell about the story to other people he  cares about.

I was at Ting-Kai’s place in New York last year where I learned about the story and I so I am writing  it down to share with my readers.

Only with hope and faith can we allow  miracles to happen to our life.

How was my brother Ting-Kai doing since that incidence?  Well, he is doing very well.  He received his doctor degree in economics and computer science in Germany.  He speaks fluently on four languages: English, German, Mandarin, and Taiwanese.  He speaks with enough competency on Spanish and Japanese.  He served more than 30 years with IBM.  He is now a professor at Furdam University in the upper New York State.  He is a very good role model for me.  My career path almost follows his career path.  He is 11 years older than I.

Ting-Kai received his doctoral degree in economics and computer science in 1968(?) from Germany.