以牙還牙

我一直把“奇跡”一詞與那些在可怕的車禍中或者“不治之癥”中幸存下來的人，或是《圣經(jīng)》中像摩西分海一樣史詩般的事件聯(lián)系在一起。但隨著年齡的增長，我學(xué)會了如何更密切地關(guān)注周圍的世界，我發(fā)現(xiàn)上帝之手無處不在，奇跡也包括很多人認為是巧合而不重視的小事件。

我最近經(jīng)歷了這樣一件事，我的大女兒瑪莉，掉了她的第一顆牙。她非常興奮，帶著牙去學(xué)校給她的朋友們看，他們中的大多數(shù)人也像小爆米花機一樣掉了牙。他們會成群結(jié)隊地站在一起，咯咯地笑著，用拇指和食指擺弄他們掉下來的牙齒，或者驕傲地展示牙齒曾經(jīng)所在的位置。這有點像是一場看誰更快長大，看誰能從牙仙那里得到最多金幣的比賽。

在平時放學(xué)后玩耍的時間段里，我們正在瑪莉讀的小學(xué)前的大草坪上，她把手伸進口袋，拿出了我們給她裝牙齒的小布袋。她把手指伸進袋子里，想把牙齒拿出來給周圍聚集的朋友們看，但當(dāng)她意識到牙齒不在里面時，她的笑容消失了。牙齒可能在她和朋友翻跟頭的時候掉了。她哭了起來。我急著想讓她平靜下來，說：“別擔(dān)心，親愛的。我們會找到它的?！钡?dāng)我看到草坪的大小，想到在那片綠色海洋中找到一顆小門牙的可能性時，我感到并不樂觀。

其他的父母和孩子看到我們在草地上四處探尋，問我們丟了什么東西。他們一個接一個地加入搜尋的隊伍，在每一片草葉之間尋找。他們都知道這是大海撈針的故事重演，但他們?yōu)楝斃蚋械诫y過，忍不住想試試。

大約半小時后，有人喊道：“我找到了！”我抬頭一看，看到瑪莉班上另一個女孩的父親得意洋洋地舉著那顆牙。我們檢查一下，確定它確實就是那顆牙?，斃蛳渤鐾?，我們兩個都非常感謝他。他謙虛地說：“不客氣。她的微笑就是對我的獎勵?！?/p>

幾周后，和往常一樣的那群人在同一塊草坪上像平常一樣翻跟頭和擺弄牙齒，這時找到瑪莉牙齒的那個人的女兒走過來，自豪地宣布她剛剛也掉了第一顆牙齒，是和瑪莉掉的同一位置的牙齒——左下第二顆門牙。她像瑪莉那樣把它拿給大家看，然后她又去玩別的了。

過了一會兒，我看見她哭了，就問她怎么了。她說她的牙齒也不見了！我發(fā)誓要幫助她和她父親找到它，其他家庭也再次加入了搜尋的行列。這是我女兒牙齒不見的那一天的重演，角色陣容也一樣。在我們尋找的時候，我對那位父親開玩笑說，我們其中的一個人應(yīng)該發(fā)明一種裝牙齒的容器——一種“牙包”——最好是帶鎖的那種。畢竟，我們都贊同，珍貴的寶貝應(yīng)該受到保護。

大約過了一個小時，在草地上搜尋的人中，我是找到他女兒牙齒的人——而幾周前這位父親在同一個地方找到了我女兒的牙齒！我從沒想過我會有機會報答他，尤其沒想到會以完全相同的方式報答他。

兩個女孩掉了同一位置的牙齒，然后不慎把牙齒掉在一塊面積約10000平方英尺的草坪上的同一位置，每次都有那么多人在尋找，結(jié)果卻被對方的父親找到了，發(fā)生這種事情的幾率有多大呢？

也許巧合只是上帝的幽默感。也許牙仙真的很想要那些牙齒，知道在哪里可以找到它們，并引導(dǎo)另一位父親和我找到它們掉下來的地方?；蛘呱系壑皇钦J為是時候賦予“以牙還牙”這個古老的表達一個新的更快樂的含義了。不管怎樣，可能變?yōu)楸瘎〉耐耆嗤膬杉虑槎冀o我們的小公主們帶來了童話般的幸福結(jié)局。

I had always associated the word “miracle” with people surviving horrible crashes or “incurable” diseases， or epic events in the Bible like the parting of the Red Sea. But as Ive grown older and learned how to pay closer attention to the world around me， Ive discovered that Gods hand is everywhere， and miracles also include small events that most people write off as coincidences.

I experienced one such event recently when my older daughter， Marli， lost her first tooth. She was so excited about it that she took it to school to show to her friends， most of whom were also losing teeth like little popcorn machines. They would stand around in groups giggling and wiggling their loose teeth between their thumbs and forefingers， or proudly displaying the spaces where teeth used to be. It was sort of a competition to see who was growing up faster， and who could get the largest amount of cold， hard cash from the Tooth Fairy.

We were on the big lawn in front of Marlis elementary school during the usual after-school play date when she reached into her pocket and took out the small， cloth bag we gave her to carry her tooth in. She put her finger into the bag to take out the tooth so she could show it to some friends who had gathered around， but her smile disappeared when she realized it wasnt there. It had fallen out， probably when she was doing somersaults with a friend. She started to cry. Anxious to calm her down， I said， “Dont worry， sweetie. Well find it.” But as I looked at the size of the lawn and thought of the actual chances of finding a tiny incisor somewhere in that sea of green， I didnt feel very optimistic.

Other parents and kids saw us poking around in the grass and asked what we had lost. They joined the search one by one until a small army was searching between every blade of grass. They all knew it was a re-enactment of the needle-in-a-haystack story， but they felt so sad for Marli that they couldnt help but try.

After half an hour or so， someone yelled， “I found it！” I looked over and saw the father? of another girl in Marlis class holding up the tooth triumphantly. We examined it and determined that it was， in fact， the tooth. Marli was overjoyed， and we both thanked the man. He said humbly13， “Youre welcome. My reward is her smile.”

A few weeks later， the usual crowd was on the same lawn doing their usual somersaults and teeth wiggling when the daughter of the man who found Marlis tooth came over and proudly announced that she， too， had just lost her first tooth. It was the same tooth that Marli had lost—the lower incisor， second from the left. She showed it to everyone the way Marli did， and then she went and played some more.

A short while later， I saw her crying and asked what was wrong. She said she had lost her tooth， too！I vowed to help her and her father find it， and once again other families joined in the search. It was a replay of the day my daughter lost her tooth， with the same cast of characters. As we searched， I joked with her father that one of us should invent a tooth carrier of some kind—a“tooth tote”—preferably something with a little lock on it. After all， we agreed， precious gems should be protected.

After an hour or so， of all the people searching in all that grass， I was the one who found his daughters tooth—and in exactly the same place the father had found my daughters tooth weeks earlier！ I never thought I would have a chance to repay him， especially not in exactly the same way.

What were the chances of two girls losing the same teeth， and then accidentally dropping them in the same place on a lawn about 10，000 square feet in size， only to be found by each others father when so many others were searching each time？

Maybe coincidence is just Gods sense of humor. Maybe the Tooth Fairy really wanted those teeth， knew where to find them， and guided the other father and me to where they had fallen. Or maybe God just thought it was time a new and happier meaning was attached to the old expression “a tooth for a tooth.” Whatever the case， these identical would-be tragedies both had happy， fairy-tale endings for our little princesses.