Christmas Miracles: Inspirational True Stories of Holiday Magic

by Brad Steiger & Sherry Hansen Steiger

For the December issue of The Inner Voice Magazine I thought it would be appropriate to review a book having a more seasonal orientation, perhaps something along the lines of, wait for it, Christmas Miracles! After perusing the many available books in this category I finally settled on one written or at least assembled by Brad Steiger and his wife, Sherry Hansen Steiger. I am uncertain whether or not I've read this book before but if I have it was a long time ago!

Amazon Introduction: The promise that miracles can happen is never more certain than during the holiday season, when it really does seem that your dreams and wishes can come true. From a guardian angel who finds a desperately needed job for a man whose wife is about to give birth right before Christmas to pair of grieving parents who receive a warm Christmas message from their recently departed son, these incredible-but-true, larger-than-life miracles celebrate the wondrous joys of this special time of year. Because the first Christmas, and every one since, is a miracle.

The book contains story after story about someone or some family who had to overcome some challenge or experience something unique in order for their story to qualify as a bonafide “Christmas Miracle.” For me, many of the stories brought on feelings of nostalgia because they took place long ago in the 1940s, 50s or 60s. And I found it wonderful to become immersed in an atmosphere of the old times when there was snow on the ground and it was 10° below zero and the car wouldn't start to take an eager young boy to the Christmas pageant play where he had an important starring role.

You are immediately drawn into the drama of the story, wondering exactly how the situation might be resolved! And many times you could not accurately predict the ending because when the resolution involves a necessary miracle, well that is a job for God and/or the Angels! And need I add that in a fair number of situations, fervent prayer was the spark that helped produce whatever miracle occurred.

Since I am a huge fan of OBE stories, I was pleased to read a few sprinkled throughout the pages. One tells the adventure of a homesick sailor stationed overseas in 1968 who was so homesick that somehow he projected his consciousness thousands of miles on Christmas to appear before his bewildered mother! Of course anyone can concoct stories, but this one, as well as many others have been verified.

This book is a compendium of Christmas Miracle stories gathered by the Steigers, about other people, so I was pleasantly surprised when I came to the very last story which told of a personal Christmas Miracle experienced by Sherry Hansen Steiger long ago when she was married to a Lutheran minister. Sherry herself was also ordained as a Lutheran minister. She had been studying at the Lutheran School of Theology located on the Southside of Chicago where they met. While there she was fortunate to study with death studies pioneer, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, famous author of On Death and Dying, who happened to be teaching a workshop there at the time. What she learned from her came into play later in her story. This chapter was the longest, but I enjoyed learning about her “previous life” as Sherry Hansen, the Lutheran minister’s wife and their difficult period while attempting to reconcile their broken relationship while living in a small country town in Ohio. This chapter could almost be considered a mini-autobiography while also telling of a different type of miracle, very different from the norm.

This book had no table of contents and none of the chapters were titled, and since I had a digital kindle version it made logical sense to simply read straight through instead of jumping around to interesting chapter titles as many readers like to do. This is not that kind of book! It’s full of variety and surprises. So I suggest to simply treat it like you would a road trip down an old country road without a map! You get the idea!

This would be a good book to read during the week before Christmas. Can't you just visualize yourself cosying up around the fireplace with a hot toddy, an eggnog, coffee or cup of tea and reading a few of these miracle stories to a loved one? So turn off that television and get this book while you have a chance to get it well before Christmas! Believe me, I think it's something you will treasure for years to come! Get it for under $3 on Amazon right here.

Brad Steiger is a world renowned author of over 175 books with over 17 million copies in print. His titles include; "Mysteries of Time and Space", "Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places", "Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier", "Touched by Heaven's Light", "American Indian Medicine Power", "Strangers from the Skies", "Project Bluebook", "The Rainbow Conspiracy", Real Encounters, Different Dimensions and Otherworldly Beings," and many more. 

Steiger first began publishing articles on the unexplained in 1956; since then he has written more than 2,000 paranormal themed articles. From 1970-73, his weekly newspaper column, "The Strange World of Brad Steiger", was carried domestically in over 80 newspapers and overseas from Bombay to Tokyo. He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on February 19, 1936. He is married to Sherry Hansen Steiger, author and co-author of over 22 books. They have two sons, three daughters, and ten grandchildren.