SATURDAY night last week, former boxer Z Gorres, who almost died from brain injuries he suffered after winning a fight against a Colombian fighter in Las Vegas two years ago, made me realize how often I have overlooked the miracles unfolding every day before my very eyes.
Gorres, nicknamed ?The Dream,? collapsed after his 10 round fight against Luis Melendez and was brought to a hospital in Las Vegas where he was operated on to remove a blood clot in his brain.
?We never thought he would survive,? said Dennis Canete, vice president of ALA Boxing Promotions which managed the boxing career of Gorres.
But survive Gorres did, in spite of several corrective operations and difficult therapy sessions that followed.
At the Hoops Dome in Lapulapu City last Saturday, Gorres watched and enjoyed the fights beside his wife and gave out a big laugh when I told him that my boxer, undefeated featherweight Lorenzo ?Thunderbolt? Villanueva, should learn head movements and footwork from him.
Gorres, who was in the throes of death two years ago, is a perfect example of God?s miracles that unfold before us but which we oftentimes overlook.
Each one of us has had miracles in our lives.
I had mine and I almost did not realize it was a miracle.
In June 2002, on a Wednesday morning, two men went to Radio Station DXND in Kidapawan City, capital of North Cotabato province, where I hosted a radio program ?Pareng Gob? every week, and asked the guard if I would come that day.
When the guard said I was coming at 12 noon because I had a radio program, they left.
Unknown to the guard, one of the men who was left standing outside placed a black bag containing three 81-mm mortar shells rigged with an electronic timing device in the hedges of Suntan flowers beside the announcer?s booth.
Nobody would have suspected that a bomb in a black bag was hidden there and it could have exploded at 12 noon. Bomb experts said it was powerful enough to destroy the radio station and kill or maim everybody inside, including my mother and several brothers who religiously attended my weekly broadcast.
But before the bomb could explode, the radio station?s pick-up driver was attracted by the red ripe fruits of a lone wild tomato that grew among the Suntan flowers. He picked the ripe tomatoes and in the process saw the bag.
Bomb sniffing dogs were brought in and bomb experts later defused it.
Having been through a lot of assassination attempts including ambuscades, I hardly even bothered to think about it except say thank you to the driver and the bomb experts.
But the following day, I woke up at dawn and realized how dumb I was. Who allowed the lone tomato to grow among the Suntan flowers? Who made it bear fruit? Who made sure the fruits would be red ripe that Wednesday to attract the attention of the driver which led to the discovery of the bomb?
That day I thanked my real savior, God, and promised Him I will never ignore the little miracles that He does everyday.
The only reason why sometimes we do not recognize these miracles is because we always equate these with winning the lotto or the dead coming back to life again.
But come to think of it, when a badly injured boxer survives and enjoys watching the fights again, it?s a miracle; when a baby learns how to walk, it?s a miracle; when the flowers bloom, it?s a miracle; when herbs that cure illnesses of mankind grow in the wilds, it?s a miracle; when it rains, it?s a miracle; when the sun rises every morning, it?s a miracle; and when we wake up to a new day in our life, it?s a miracle.
Watch out for these miracles. They will make you understand the meaning and appreciate the beauty of life.
