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MIRACLES!
MIRACLES!
What
is this wisdom that has been granted
Him, and
these miracles ...? Mark
6:2 |
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Miracles! Miracles!
Let's not pretend.
They can all be explained,
from beginning to end.
So
say the cynics of our time, but what about you?
Do you believe in miracles?
Our English word, "miracle," comes
from the Latin word, "miro" meaning "to
wonder," and from the Latin word "mirus" meaning "wonderful." Other
words in common use come from the same roots,
including the word "mirror." A mirror
causes people to wonder or admire.
A kind of miracle in itself is the fact that
as the word for miracle evolved through various
languages, it got itself tied up with the word "smile." In
old English, Middle English, and the Scandinavian
languages, "miracle" and "smile" go
together. And in some other languages the word "miracle" and
the word "laughter" are related.
A miracle pleases. A miracle delights. A miracle
makes us smile or laugh for sheer joy that it
came to pass.
A senior editor
of Reader's Digest once wrote: "Miracles show
what is possible. They beckon the imagination. For
example, you may say you don't believe in angels,
but, at the push of a button you draw music out
of the air."
In a play called "The Green Pastures,"
the angel Gabriel becomes fed up with mankind's
bad antics. So much so that he is ready to blow
his horn and close the curtain on the world ...
He begs God to let him sound the trumpet. He
then implores God to get on with Judgment Day.
Finally, God scolds Gabriel, saying, "Have
you not noticed that every now and then mankind
turns out some pretty good specimens? They do
come, those bright and shiny moments. They do
come, those beautiful and reassuring visions.
They do come, those good and kind and generous
women and men. They do come, those miracles of
love, brightening the landscape of life and giving
us an unforgettable vision of something better
and finer in life."
On
the first day of a beginning science course, the
sixth grade science teacher decided to dazzle
his students with a demonstration of his "miraculous
powers" ... To begin
the demonstration, he poured a colorless liquid
(a chemical called "phenolphaline")
into a glass beaker. Then he poured another colorless
liquid (sodium hydroxide) into the same beaker
and, presto! What had been a colorless solution,
that looked very much like water, was transformed
into a liquid the color of lush red wine. With a
triumph and flourish, he began to stir the solution
so vigorously that the beaker tipped over and
the contents spilled all over his desk. The students
watched as he worked furiously with a rag and
a sponge trying to clean up the mess. "Isn't
anyone going to give me a hand?" he
shouted. Whereupon, the entire class applauded.
For two thousand years, We have been applauding
Jesus' miracles ...
And when we read all those miracle stories, we
are so edified that we may even feel like applauding.
Moreover, we feel ourselves longing for such miracles
to be performed in our own time and place.
Often we pray for miracles, and that's okay
the New Testament writers tell us. They're telling
us to open ourselves up to the reality that God's
Grace does work miracles in our lives.
They're constantly reminding us that nothing
is impossible to God. Nothing!
"How can this be?" said Mary to the
angel who told her she would give birth to the
Messiah. "Nothing will be impossible with
God," the angel assured her.
It has been said that miracles occur when human
vision is intertwined with Divine Love. Where
there is an abundance of love, there are always
miracles.
Miracles can happen!
Miracles
do happen!
Because God is
God, And can miraculously transform sorrow into
joy, despair into hope, death into New Life.
Because you are you, because you are a child
of God, because you are a unique masterpiece of
God's Creation, you have a special place in God's
Plan for the fulfillment of Creation, through
the miracle of love. Your
purpose in being here, your life's purpose, is
to be a miracle worker. You can do marvelous things.
Jesus told us It is wisdom that gives us this
knowledge.
For us ordinary
folks, pursuing true wisdom can be like swimming
upstream. Yet, it is in the midst of the onslaught
of noise and mind pollution that the pursuit of
wisdom must take place. The
question of how to live wisely cannot be answered
on the level of the mind alone. The answer requires
a wisdom which proceeds from the combined resources
of heart and soul and mind. The Source of all
wisdom is, of course, God. And the pursuit of
true wisdom is the pursuit of God ... the pursuit
of God is the pursuit of true Wisdom.
I sat down to write and I asked myself, "What
shall I write?" My heart
said, "write about love." But
my mind said, "write about wisdom." My
heart did not argue with my mind, It merely embraced
my mind with love. Then after
a while my mind spoke again and said, "LOVE
IS WISDOM!"
Blessings,
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