“Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation, a situation in which we don’t get caught and we can open our hearts and minds beyond limit. It’s a very tender, nonaggressive, open-ended state of affairs. To stay with that shakiness—to stay with a broken heart, with a rumbling stomach, with the feeling of hopelessness and wanting to get revenge—that is the path of true awakening. Sticking with that uncertainty, getting the knack of relaxing in the midst of chaos, learning not to panic—this is the spiritual path.” (Chodron, Pema. When Things Fall Apart (Shambhala Classics) (p. 16). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.)

When you think of people who perform miracles, who immediately comes to mind? Saints like St. Mother Theresa or Saint Charles of Mount Argus (look him up) – or even people like Edgar Casey and other clairvoyants.  Just like there are people who can do miraculous healings occasionally in this world, there are people to whom others attribute miracles of all kinds.  The Catholic Church will lift up certain “Saints” through a process of canonization – if there are people who can affirm the miracles. 

We use the world miracle too loosely in this day. If someone does well on a math test when they expected to do terribly, we might say “It is a miracle.”  Was it a miracle, or did the person actually retain enough information or study the right material to do well? Or we might say “My son was on time today for lunch – it was a miracle.” Again, not the gift of miracles we are talking about. I often read the miracles that Jesus performed in his ministry, and I am jealous that I do not get the same opportunity to witness the joy, the suspense, the surprise and the awe that these miracles would have engendered among those who witnessed them.

Pema Chodron says above: “Things are always in transition, if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we like to dream about. The off-center, in-between state is an ideal situation…”

Experiencing a miracle in our modern world puts us just where Pema is suggesting – the off-center and in-between state, wanting to know how and why. Whether through modern saints of today, through medical practices and advances, or through the mystery of G-d, miracles still happen – and I believe they happen every day.

Pastor Dave