QUESTION: Can you write about "miracles" and how the hope/prayer for a miracle can make people miss what is in front of them?

The dictionary defines miracle as: “an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.” With that definition you have to be a pretty high stakes gambler to bet your life (literally) on the idea that a miracle is going to cure your life threatening illness.

“People miss what is in front of them”. That is a powerful statement. What is in front of us is the present. Whatever the situation our life is in at the moment. What many, maybe even most, people do is trade that moment for a gamble on the future. We do this gambling with a lot of life occurrences. But we place our biggest bets with life threatening illness decisions.

We gamble that being very sick with side effects, and spending inordinate amounts of money on treatments and procedures, will result in a cure, in a life that is active and healthy, in a miracle. I use the word “miracle” because if the right questions are asked and the physician is being honest, often times the answers will point to this: it would take a miracle to return you to a healthy life. Most of us just don’t want to hear that kind of answer, so we don’t ask.

I remember someone telling me that prayer requires action, that God works through us. There is an old story about a man praying to God to save him from the rising waters of a river. A boat comes by and the driver says to the man “Get aboard”. The man replies “God will save me.” A rescue helicopter throws down a rope and the pilot says “Climb the rope”. The man says “ God will save me”. Well, the man drowned. When he met God the man was disillusioned and asked God why he didn’t save him. God replied
“I tried. I sent you a boat and a helicopter.” The point is clear. God’s help comes in the ways of this earth. It is God working through us and our actions that creates miracles.

I think prayer/ positive thinking is a very valuable tool in healing, in all of living actually, but it isn’t enough. To deal with our challenges we must use the tools of the physical world we live in: rational thinking, research, and knowledge of our disease.

Something more about Miracles...

When we avoid asking questions, usually it's because we're scared. At these times we must remember Knowledge Reduces Fear. Get New Rules for End of Life Care and reduce your fear so that you can live fully during your final act of living!