Several years before Abraham Joshua Heschel died his friend, Sam, visited him. This is what he recalled:
He had gotten out of bed for the first time to greet me and he was sitting in the living room when I arrived, looking weak and pale. He spoke slowly and with some effort, almost in a whisper. I strained to hear his words.
”Sam”, he said, “When I regained consciousness, my first feeling was not of despair or of anger. I felt only gratitude to God for my life, for every moment I have a lift. I was ready to depart, if need be. ‘Take me, O Lord,’ I thought. ‘I have seen so many miracles in my lifetime.’" Exhausted by the effort, he paused, and then added: “This is what I meant when I wrote in the preface to my book of poems: I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me.” -Rabbi Jack Reimer
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