Note To The Reader From The Original 1996 Edition

This is a true story.

“You mean some guy named Paul Peterson really jumped off a cliff and was saved by this strange miracle worker named Rafe, who then helped him learn to overcome fear, doubt, and adversity?” you might ask.

Well, I would reply, the story is true in that it has integrity, a wholeness that we can each recognize in our own life’s experience. It’s not just a story, it’s a part of The Story that’s played itself out millions of times before Paul met Rafe on that cliff top, and many times since.

Perhaps in your life. I know it has in mine.

Rafe is faith. Faith that there is meaning in all life, including your own. That no one who is trying to do what is right will be allowed to labor unaided. Faith that although adversity may at fi rst seem to weaken and hurt you, it will eventually strengthen and heal you. That when you are ready to learn, teachers will appear. That in the darkest moment the light is not long in coming.

Rafe will be there when you hit bottom, and you’ll know you’ve hit bottom when Rafe appears. You’ll know it’s Rafe by this: The serendipity is too amazing to believe it’s a coincidence. Something is about to happen that was meant to be, something that is truly miraculous.

Miracle is not too strong a work for the connections that faith will make, for the changes that are possible in your life, but you must first understand what a miracle is, and what it is not.

A miracle is not an event. It is a process.

A miracle is not a gift. It is something earned through hard work and painful introspection.

A miracle is not free. It comes with strings attached, and if you’re not willing to share it, you will be unable to keep it.

In truth the greatest miracle is this: the miracle of profound self-transformation. Many of the miracles recorded in history are simply metaphors for this simple truth, that we each have the power in our own hands to create the miracle of becoming the person we were meant to be.

The twenty principles of courage and perseverance that serve as chapter headings for this book aren’t mine; they come from a universal and timeless wisdom. Others taught them to me. I hope that they can transform your life as they have mine.