What are your thoughts on miracles? Do they exist? If so, what qualifies something as a miracle?
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The reason this is on my mind: the power has been on and off (off more than on) daily for the last week, with power shortages suggesting that this problem will get worse before it gets better. Unfortunately, we don't have a generator at the parish, and the school was counting on me to prepare certificates for our speech day on Saturday. The power went off sometime on Wednesday morning, but finally came back Friday afternoon, so my friend and I went to prepare the certificates. It took two hours of playing around on the laptop, searching for paper, and being frustrated with the printer, but finally they were finished, so I left for home. Sometime during the first half of my 20 minute walk home, the power went out (it was on when I left the parish, but off by the time I got to town 10 minutes later). (Last night, the opposite phenomenon happened: the power came back on while I was walking home... both are strange occurrences).
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I don't believe that god intervenes in the simple daily affairs of individuals (as an example, I don't put much weight into prayers for a parking space close to the front doors of the mega-supermarket whose unethical and unjust business practices cause suffering around the world), but the realisation that we had only just managed to finish this important project in time brought an immediate prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving to my lips. And then, it made me start thinking about miracles and divine intervention in human life and activity (of which, judging by the amount of suffering in this part of the world, I tend to believe there is not enough of, if it truly does happen).
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So, I'm curious what you all think.
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And, as another piece to think about in relation to this issue, I once shadowed a pastor who warned his congregation not to consider as divine favour blessings which are simply part and parcel of middle class western developed nation life. That is, be careful before you attribute all of the good things in your life to god's looking kindly on you, when, after all, your material blessings, good health, long education, employment stability, and life expectancy might just be rolled up into the package of your American lifestyle.
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Oh, and yes, I know these thoughts will be probably strike some of you as inherently heretical. If so, feel free to judge and pray for me as much as you wish, but know that I'm more interested in critical thought and experiential insight than ideological debates.
14 years ago
2 comments:
Such very good thoughts, my friend! While the critical student in me would scoff at the idea of miracles, the human in me cannot help but hope for them.
I think ultimately they are there, but it takes a matter of the right mindset to see them. Thus, I think we (well, I, at least) tend to miss the miracles going on beneath our noses.
Thanks for making me think from so many thousands of miles away. I love you!
Miracles, yes, they exist. I have seen them - in people. In lives that changed far beyond the individuals' own ability to change. I'll have to tell you about one. Watch for a letter. It's coming (and if it arrives, that in itself will be a miracle).
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