There’s a quote that says “Everyone has gone through something that has changed them in a way that they could never go back to the person they once were.” Sometimes that catalyst is an event; sometimes it’s a person; sometimes it’s a book. And sometimes it’s simply a combination of things that came along at the right time to teach us the lessons we needed to learn to move forward on our chosen path. And sometimes, those catalysts return to us at unexpected times, to show us something new and meaningful about the choices we are trying to make.

This book, SUPERMAN: MIRACLE MONDAY, is one of two of my most significant catalysts. I read it as a youth, and the lessons it and its predecessor, SUPERMAN: LAST SON OF KRYPTON gave me inspired me then and inspire me still. They’re the reason that I wear a Superman ring, as I wrote about in DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS, and this book also played a part in more significant shifts in my life that happened after I attended my first Superstars Writing Seminar in 2012, where I was a guest speaker, where I discovered my closest Tribe, and where I formed relationships so powerful they have left me forever changed.

In this book, Superman chooses to save a single life, and in doing so defeats a great evil and saves the world – but only two people ever remember it. The rest of the world simply feels a sense of security, ease, and happiness that manifests itself as an annual holiday, Miracle Monday, that is celebrated on the third Monday in May. In the future, after a time traveler (the woman Superman saved) reveals the answer of the origin of Miracle Monday, one of the practices is to set an extra place at the dinner table, and for each person to put a portion of their food on the plate – for Superman, if he returns, one day – or for any weary traveler or a person in need who might happen by that night. To me, that one example gives the two important messages of the story: that someone who cares is still there somewhere, watching, who will help in time of need; and that sometimes, WE are that person who can look out for and help others when they need it. That’s why I believe. That’s what I try to live. And that why I celebrate this holiday.

Happy Miracle Monday, everyone.

– James