Mistakes in life are inevitable. Through them we manage to grow and make progress if we’re open to learn from them. Something can be seen as a mistake or a miracle depending on the prism through which you view it. In today’s story, a mistake saved the life of a man. Was it a mistake or a miracle? That’s for you to ponder.

Mark was doing paperwork at home one Monday afternoon when the phone rang.

“Mr. Hastings?” a cool, crisp voice said. “This is Lauren from Dr. Brown’s office. I just wanted to confirm your appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning at nine o’clock.”

Mark was taken aback, “Are you sure about the appointment?” he asked the nurse.

“You are Mark Hastings?” she asserted, more brusquely this time.

“Yes of course I am,” replied Mark.

“Well, Mr. Hastings, I have you down for a nine o’clock appointment with Dr. Brown.”

“Lauren,” Mark confessed, “I don’t remember making this appointment.”

“Listen, Mr. Hastings.” she snapped, all traces of civility now gone. “Dr. Brown is one the busiest and most important cardiologists in New York. Appointments with him have to be booked months in advance.”

“What should I do?” Mark mouthed to his wife, holding his hand over the phone.

“Go” she shrugged. “If you made an appointment, it’s not nice for you to cancel at the last minute.”

“OK,” Mark conceded. “I’m coming. I’ll be there tomorrow morning at nine.”

The next morning, he underwent a grueling series of tests in Dr. Brown’s office. After Dr. Brown had begun to evaluate the results, he returned to Mark’s room, a grim expression on his face. “Not a moment too soon!” he exclaimed. “You’re a lucky man, Mr. Hastings. You have a serious cardiac problem, and you’ll have to have surgery immediately. Its a matter of life or death. Boy, it’s fortunate you had an appointment today,” the doctor added.

Meanwhile, at the secretary’s office in the reception room, a disturbed man was causing a commotion. “What do you mean? Mark Hastings is already in the doctor’s office? I am Mark Hastings,” he shouted, shoving the appointment card with his name under the secretary’s nose. “See for yourself. It’s today’s date, and it says nine o’clock.”

The young secretary asked, bewildered, “Who is the man sitting in the doctor’s office right now?” She beseeched the man in front of her to let her check the records. And there she found two separate files for two different Mark Hastings – one who lived in Manhattan and was currently fuming in the reception room in front of her, another who lived in Brooklyn and was given a serious diagnosis, and was on his way to the operating room.

The wrong Mark Hastings, who had been called by the secretary, was given a new lease on life because of this mistake. Only it was really the right Mark Hastings – the one who needed the mistake to happen in order to save his life.

Miracle or Mistake?

—Fr. Hugh Duffy