Miracles

The word "miracle" is greatly overused and misused today, usually to justify a belief in a particular religion.

"Did you see the story about the potato chip that had Jesus' image on it? It's a MIRACLE!"

"They say that the Virgin Mary appeared to that little boy and told him to do X, Y, and Z. It was a MIRACLE!"

Other times, people (including myself) use the word to describe something that happened that was simply unbelievable, and which had positive or improbable results:

"I can't believe I aced that test and only studied for two hours. It's a MIRACLE!"

"That's her? Wow, she is really hot. And she slept with you? You? That's a MIRACLE!"

"John Smith got promoted? I thought he was going to get fired! What a MIRACLE."

My own personal view of miracles is that they are motivated from the spiritual, good part of ourselves that we cannot see in this world. They are selfless thoughts and acts with extraordinary results. Yet, miracles can be very small, very simple acts that on the surface, do not appear to be significant. The book A Course in Miracles, which is actually a pretty intense spiritual workbook, discusses 50 "Principles of Miracles," three of which are relevant here:

Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense everything that comes from love is a miracle.

Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is as blessed to give as to receive. They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver.

Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle-readiness.

When viewed in this way, miracles are actually everywhere, if you are perceptive enough to see them. And you have the power to create them yourself on a daily basis. Just by the way you act and think towards others. Especially strangers. It begins with how you perceive other people and their relationship to you. Are we all individuals with our own rights, wants, and needs that must prevail all the time, or are we all a part of something larger? If you believe the latter, you will feel a sense of responsibility and caring towards others, regardless of whether you know them personally. You will view everyone as the same and deserving of love and respect, regardless of their social, ethnic, or economic circumstances. That's where miracles start.

The effects of simply beginning to think this way can be quite dramatic. In 2007, we have already seen extraordinary examples of miracles, expressions of love that demonstrate a "miraculous state of mind" among the people involved. And the effect on people who did not personally experience these miracles, who only hear about them on t.v. or the newspaper, is also miraculous. It is like a large rock thrown in a pond that hits the water, causing positive ripples to flow outwardly, to be felt by all of us. If you have ever gotten teary-eyed or experienced goosebumps after seeing a news story about someone who forgave another person for a terrible act they did, or about someone who died performing an act so selfless that it risked his or her own life, then you have experienced the spiritual "ripple" I am talking about.

President Bush experienced it the other day, when he wept at a Medal of Honor service for Corporal Jason Dunham, an American marine who was killed in 2004 at the age of 23, after jumping on a grenade to save the lives of two fellow soldiers.



Both Dunham's selfless act, and the effect it had on one of the most powerful men in the world, are miracles.

New York, with its 13 million inhabitants crammed together like little matchsticks, is prime territory for miracles. Two weeks ago, Wesley Autrey, an everyday construction worker with a family, jumped onto a subway track in Harlem, leaving his two, young daughters on the platform, to save a total stranger who had suffered a seizure and fallen down into the tracks. When an oncoming subway train approached, he covered the man with his entire body as the train passed over his head. Here is a clip of his recent appearance on David Letterman:



Amazing story.

Days later, another miracle happened, this time in the Bronx, when a 3 year-old child climbed out of a fifth-floor window and down to the fourth-floor fire escape when her babysitter wasn't watching. On the ground below, two strangers, Pedro Nevarez and Julio Gonzalez, saw the baby perched above them. The child lost his grip and fell four stories before he was caught by Nevarez and Gonzalez, saving his life. Another selfless act.

And today we hear about the return of Shawn Hornbeck, who was kidnapped four years ago by a predator and found this week, along with another boy who was kidnapped a few days ago. The miracle here is the tireless police work that led to their return and the hopes and dreams of their parents, which never died and which were actually realized, unlike those of the unfortunate majority of parents of lost children who will never be found. Another miracle is the good feeling this story is creating in everybody.

The Ripple Effect starts with just a thought. And we're all capable of it.