{"id":27252,"date":"2013-11-01T21:02:26","date_gmt":"2013-11-02T01:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=27252"},"modified":"2016-09-30T16:01:41","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:01:41","slug":"thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Peters writes: “I have never felt God’s presence as much as I do since the accident”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It\u2019s a powerful, deeply moving testimony that he calls, with a breathtaking understatement, \u201cReflections on My Time Away.\u201d You\u2019ll want to read it all and share it.<\/p>\n

A snip:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A major accident is an invitation to both physical and spiritual recovery. I have never felt God\u2019s presence as much as I do since the accident. People will say that accidents like mine should call into question God\u2019s mercy or even His existence. But for me, the fact that I survived my injury is the greatest evidence I have ever experienced of God\u2019s mercy and providence. I believe God allowed my accident to happen and that He\u00a0chose\u00a0<\/em>to help me survive that accident and\u00a0every day gives me the opportunity to be blessed through it\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026The accident has\u00a0taught me that I am a work still in progress and anything I do achieve is for God\u2019s glory. I completed my term of inpatient rehabilitation this week and the hard work of learning to live on my own again (with the tremendous help of my wife) has just begun, as has grueling outpatient therapy to regain more of the strength and muscle systems I have lost. The vast, vast majority of individuals with my injury never walk again, but there remain signs that I could beat these long odds, and I have been praying to St. Jude for such a miracle.\u00a0The majority of individuals with an injury like mine never regain the use of their hands \u2013 I have had to write these reflections using a knuckle of my right pinky on a touchscreen, if you can believe it. But through the intercession of St. Francis, I am recovering some\u00a0finger function in my left hand. There are troubling signs that my life will forever be plagued with neuropathic pain, but as I have learned, pain can be offered up and need not inhibit living a good and worthy life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read it all.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It\u2019s a powerful, deeply moving testimony that he calls, with a breathtaking understatement, \u201cReflections on My Time Away.\u201d You\u2019ll want to read it all and share it. A snip:\u00a0 A major accident is an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[1502],"class_list":["post-27252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-thomas-peters"],"yoast_head":"\nThomas Peters writes: "I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thomas Peters writes: "I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-02T01:02:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T20:01:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2013\/11\/1-thomnat-575x305.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/\",\"name\":\"Thomas Peters writes: \\\"I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-02T01:02:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T20:01:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thomas Peters writes: “I have never felt God’s presence as much as I do since the accident”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thomas Peters writes: \"I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident\"","description":"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thomas Peters writes: \"I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident\"","og_description":"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2013-11-02T01:02:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T20:01:41+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2013\/11\/1-thomnat-575x305.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/","name":"Thomas Peters writes: \"I have never felt God's presence as much as I do since the accident\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-11-02T01:02:26+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T20:01:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"Over at Catholic Vote, Thomas Peters has written for the first time about the crippling accident that has changed his life. It's a powerful, deeply moving","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/11\/thomas-peters-writes-i-have-never-felt-gods-presence-as-much-as-i-do-since-the-accident\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thomas Peters writes: “I have never felt God’s presence as much as I do since the accident”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}