There’s a scene in the 1991 movie, “Grand Canyon”, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, that has always stuck with me.
Kevin Kline and Mary McDonnell play a husband and wife having a conversation in bed after each has experienced an extraordinary event: Mary’s character, Claire, discovered an abandoned baby on her daily jog and Mac was “saved” in a rough part of town by a courageous tow truck driver named Simon. Claire says to her husband: “What if these are miracles, Mac? Maybe we don’t have any experience with miracles, so we’re slow to recognize them.”
What would your response be if you witnessed or were an unknowing participant in a miracle? Would you recognize it for the extraordinary divine phenomenon that it was? Would you proclaim it loudly to your friends? To the world? Probably not, I’m betting. Easier to just store it away in your memory and think upon it now and again, taking it down off the shelf like a favorite book when you find yourself in need of comfort.
In my favorite novel, “Peace Like a River” by Leif Enger, the narrator, Reuben Land, says this about miracles. “For too long the word miracle has been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal. Peeping chicks at Easter time, spring generally, a clear sunrise after an overcast week— a miracle, people say, as if they’ve been educated from greeting cards. I’m sorry, but nope. Such things are worth our notice every day of the week, but to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the word.”
Reuben continues:
“Real miracles bother people. They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave— now there’s a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time. My sister, Swede, who often sees to the nub, offered this: People fear miracles because they fear being changed—though ignoring them will change you also. Swede said another thing, too, and it rang in me like a bell: No miracle happens without a witness. Someone to declare, Here’s what I saw. Here’s how it went. Make of it what you will.”
I’m not sure if I've ever experienced a miracle. But I’ve heard stories from friends and fellow believers that seem like they might have. I do believe that God works wonders, often times in answer to the prayers of the faithful. But like Claire says, I think we’re slow to recognize them for what they are. And I also don’t think every answered prayer results in a miracle. I’ve had many answered prayers in my life that weren’t a bonafide miracle, and I'm guessing that's true for most people who pray.
For those answered prayers that are miraculous, I think we’re missing the boat when it comes to sharing them. A true miracle, what Reuben describes as “no cute thing but more like the swing of a sword,” needs to be shared by its witnesses. A miracle reminds the world that God is real, that He is working & interacting with His creation, that He hears & answers prayers, that His spirit is moving amongst us— whether we recognize Him in this advanced technological age or not. A miracle story shared with the world is edifying for believers, thought-provoking to non-believers, and at the very least, a beacon of light & hope in this dark modern age.
If you have a miracle story or were a witness to a miraculous answer to prayer, won’t you please consider sharing it? I'd like to invite you to submit it via our Stories page. We will contact you to discuss the possibility of making a video documentary about your story.
Put your light on its stand, so that it may give light to everyone in the house. (Matthew 5:15)
Comments