We have been gobsmacked by miracles this week. The straight forward people of Beaconsfield Northern Tasmania have steadfastly declared that the discovery of two miners alive after an earth tremor was indeed a miracle. (see here for a recent update).The use of this sort of language is common, though I find myself wondering what it means. And more importantly, what it might say about God. Do we believe that God has intervened in this 'natural disaster' so that 2 men who would most certainly have died will now (hopefully) be rescued? At the very least we wonder about why one man died and the two others survived. This is one of the abiding problems with 'miracle' language, and miracle processes.
Do we really believe in a God who deals with us in what is such an unfair way...some are saved, others are not?
Do we want to believe in a God who can overrule the laws of the very universe that God established and created?
This is too heavy a framework to put on the language of the good people of Beaconsfield. Their language expresses a heartfelt thanks that at least some have been saved...and we take what we can get.
In another direction, the rose pictured above is called "A Blooming Miracle" and is a project to raise funds for Anglican Board of Mission-Australia (see here). There is no doubt in my mind that each flower from gum tree to caltrop is a "miracle"....the sort of God who makes this kind of miracle...complex development and subtlety, fine tuned through centuries of evolution, uniqueness and complementarity. To bring all this together in not just one, but millions of plants is indeed a "blooming miracle"
4 comments:
Perhaps Christianity should arrogate to itself the sole right to the use of the word 'miracle'. Oxford recognises its derivation from the Latin 'miraculum' - a wonderful thing (et alia).
There is much to be said for this. I noted in a previous post see April 12 "An ethical mind" a recent rabbinic seminar. That Rabbi said that the rabbinic wisdom was that praying for a miracle was "wasted prayer" I think I have more in common with this tradition than the magic wand type of miracle!
Perhaps the miracle of the week will surely be if Telstra finally fixes your phone!!!!!!!!!!!
Spent another 90 mins on the phone. Telstra would not know if their fundaments were ignited!!
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