6 . Jan Tchamani, an English teacher in Birmingham, UK, suddenly developed a serious illness and had to quit her job. At age 50, she found herself out of work and stuck (被困住) at home with only her computer to keep her company. After a while, she discovered that surfing the Internet could help her feel less lonely and bored. She could listen to music, watch films, play games, and explore the world. She also joined an online group where she could talk about her problems and get support and advice from others. She realised that one of the greatest benefits of the Internet was its ability to remove the distance that usually exists between people.

She was so inspired by the people she met online that she decided to start an IT club to teach older people how to use computers and the Internet. She and her friends now organise events and collect money to pay for private teachers. Many people have been helped by the club. A 59-year-old man learnt how to apply for work online and found a great job. Now that he works and can take care of himself, his daughter has time to study at university. A 61-year-old woman who was living alone has started a small online company together with two friends. She no longer feels lonely, and her company has become quite successful.

Jan has started taking online classes to learn more about how to use the Internet to make society better. She believes that it is highly important to bridge the digital gap and make sure that everyone has access to the Internet and knows how to use new technology. Her next goal is to start a charity website to raise money for children in poor countries.

Jan’s life has been greatly improved by the Internet. “When you go through hard times, you meet others who are facing similar challenges,” Jan says. “Thinking about other people’s situations inspired me to offer help.”

You can learn a lot sitting in a parking lot. The other day I was sitting in my car with my sons reading a book while my daughter finished grocery shopping. From time to time, I would look up and observe what was going on outside. One of those times I saw a huge, new, bright red, Cadillac SUV pull up in the parking spot beside me. Out of it stepped a well-dressed young woman in high heels. Her face was tight and determined and her eyes hidden behind sunglasses. I watched her as she headed for the store and wondered about her life.

A moment later a 30-year-old station wagon pulled up beside the SUV. It smelled of burning oil and probably didn’t have many months of life left in its engine. Out of it stepped a young mom with 4 little girls all under the age of 12. All were dressed in worn clothes. She gathered them together and they headed to the store laughing and talking all the way.

A while later I saw the Cadillac lady coming out, pushing a cart filled with a new television set. She threw it in the back and pulled out quickly, her eyes still hidden, her face still frowning. Fifteen minutes after her the station wagon mom emerged with her little girls. They had a week’s worth of groceries in their cart. After unloading it, the mom took out two pieces of cookies, broke both in half, and gave each girl a half of cookie. They smiled like it was the most priceless gift in the world. As they pulled out I thought about the two women. I clearly knew which one had the most money, but I wasn’t sure which one really had the most.

In this life there are many kinds of riches but the most valuable one of all is love. The truth is the one who loves the most: learns the most, lives the most, gives the most, and grows the most in this life. It is the real riches of this life.

8 . Many Americans have felt lonely and afraid this year. The Weber family in South Dakota, is no different.

The 11-year-old Emerson Weber has a _______ — She writes lots of letters. One day last spring, she _______ wrote to her mail carrier. “I wanted to thank you for taking my _________ and delivering them. You are very _______to me.”

In no time, Em’s simple thank-you note was _______ around the United States Postal Service (USPS). Many of the workers there who _______ her thank-you note wrote her one back.

Em has a serious letter-writing habit. She _______ active correspondence （联系） with her favorite people. And if you’ve been lucky enough to receive Em’s _______ letters and envelopes, then you have a pretty good idea of the _______ they bring.

A letter from Em is likely to ________ some art, a joke or two, a mention of her younger brother and her love for Taylor Swift. So when she decided to thank the mail carrier for the ________ he provides her, she left ________ out. In went Taylor Swift, in went the little brother, in went the jokes.

Em also wrote, “I’m Emerson. You may know me as the person that writes lots of letters and decorates the envelopes. I want to thank you. The ________ why you are very important in my life is that I don’t have a phone, so how can I ________ my friends? You make it ________ !”

Her local mail carrier, Doug and his co-workers were all so ________ that they shared Em’s note ________ a “Token (信物) of Thanks” inside USPS and they wanted to write back to thank her.

Today, Em got two BOXES of letters from around the country. They are ________ with a sense of kindness. ________ there was something more in these letters. People felt ________ ---some for the first time in a longtime. It was a beautiful moment of silent exchange of love.

9 . Samantha Whiting, from Texas, USA, was on holiday with her family in California earlier this year when every parent’s worst nightmare came to life.

While playing on the beach, Samantha spotted her 10-year-old daughter Hayley drifting out into deeper water. She called Hayley back to shore, only for the youngster to realise she was caught in the rip current（离岸流）and couldn’t swim back in. The current was dragging her out to sea rapidly and she called for her mum to help her as Samantha desperately tried to reach her little girl. “I will never forget her face when she said, ‘Mum, help me！’” Samantha told KFSN, recalling the terror in her daughter’s voice. She managed to reach her daughter but wasn’t able to swim her back to shore and the pair were struggling.

Nearby, Kevin Cozzi and his girlfriend heard the screaming. He quickly jumped into action when he realized Hayley was in danger. “I’ve been swimming since I was 3 years old competitively, so I felt like I could get to them,” Cozzi told KFSN. “I ran out there and as soon as I got to the mum, I just told her to give me her daughter because I knew she was struggling.” He swam Hayley back to shore and a lifeguard rushed to help the 10-year-old, meanwhile Samantha was thanking the total stranger who had saved her little girl from drowning.

“If it were not for him coming to help me, there’s no way that we both would have made it, ” the grateful mum said.

Months went by, and Samantha only knew Cozzi’s first name and that he lived in Merced, California. However, she never stopped looking for the heroic bystander.

Earlier this week, she posted about the rescue in a Facebook group called Merced Neighborhood Watch, and within hours they reconnected.

Cozzi and his girlfriend had to put off their wedding because of COVID-19, and Samantha decided to set up a GoFund Me account to help Cozzi and his girlfriend have the wedding of their dreams. Both Samantha and Hayley have been invited to the wedding, set for next fall, and look forward to once again thanking Cozzi in person. Cozzi was thankful for their fundraiser, but told journalists, “That girl being saved was enough for me.”

10 . Sometimes just when we need the power of miracles, they arise in the places we would least expect.

On a cold January afternoon in 1989, I was climbing Egypt’s Mt. Horeb, hoping to get to the peak by sunset to see the valley below. As I was winding up the narrow path, I’d sometimes see other hikers who were coming down. While they would generally pass with simply a nod or a greeting in another language, there was one man who did neither.

I saw him coming and as he got closer, I could see that, unlike other hikers, he was wearing traditional Egyptian galabia( 长 袍 ). What made his appearance so strange was that the man didn’t even appear to be Egyptian, but was a small-framed Asian man with little hair and round glasses.

As we neared one another, I said Hello, but not a sound came from him. I thought maybe he hadn’t heard me. Suddenly he stopped directly in front of me, looked up from the ground, and spoke a single sentence to me in English, “Sometimes you don’t know what you have lost until you’ve lost it.” As I took in what I had just heard, he simply stepped around me and continued his going down.

That moment in my life was a small miracle. The reason is less about what the man said but more about the timing and the context. The year was 1989, and it was during my Egyptian pilgrimage (朝圣), and specifically during my hike to Mt. Horeb, that I’d set the time aside to make decisions that would affect my career, my friends, my family, and ultimately, my life.

I had to ask myself what the chances were of an Asian man dressed in an Egyptian galabia coming down from the top of this historic mountain just when I was walking up, stopping before me, and offering his wisdom, seemingly from out of nowhere. My answer to my own question was easy: nearly no chance! In a meet that lasted less than two minutes, a total stranger had brought something clear and something of a warning, regarding the huge changes that I would make within a matter of days. In my way of thinking, that’s a miracle.

Miracles are everywhere and occur every day for different reasons, in response to the different needs that we may have in the moment. Our job may be less about questioning the extraordinary things that happen in our daily lives and more about accepting the gifts they bring.