Rev. Bob Gerard shared the following:

 

How do you define a miracle?

 

The internet dictionary defines a miracle in this manner:

miracle

/ˈmirək(ə)l/

 

noun

1.  a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.

"the miracle of rising from the grave"

Similar:

supernatural phenomenon

mystery

prodigy

sign

• a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences.

"it was a miracle that more people hadn't been killed or injured"

• an amazing product or achievement, or an outstanding example of something.

"a machine which was a miracle of design"

 

From my Christian back ground our Bible is divided into two parts.  

There are 83 in the Old Testament and 80 in the New Testament. The miracles involve healings, renewed food and drink supplies, the end of famines and plagues, winning wars and being kept safe in dangerous times, dreams, resurrections, births, reunions of families, creation, showing compassion, grace and love when it would be easier to do the opposite, and more.

 

Having read two books by Karen Armstrong, Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life and The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts gave me insight to what other faiths consider to be miracles. C.S. Lewis wrote a good book on miracles and it is titled, Miracles.

 

Personally:

• Being with my wife when she gave birth to our son was witnessing a miracle to me.

• I had brother, David, who was born with down syndrome. He was suspectable to many types of illnesses which he experienced. He was not supposed to live beyond 10 years, then it was 18 years, 30 years and he made it to 52 years and died. His doctor said he had the body of an 80 year-old. The miracles of good medicines, and my parents and sister’s loving care extended his life, quality of life, beyond what the doctors told us to expect. David received a good education in his school years because my parents fought for it. Despite David’s disability he would memorize the “TV Guide” each month. He could tell you what time, day and channel a program was on without consulting the magazine once he had looked it over. A miracle to me.   

• When I go a doctor’s office and see the charts on the parts of our bodies, the miracle of how we have been created and operate amazes me. Having had a successful eight-hour back fusion last year seems to be a miracle of modern medicine to me. The two surgeons who performed the surgeries seemed to think it was a miracle, too.

• Modern medicines or therapies that heal or control a medical problem fit in here, too.

• A friend of ours is an artist who creates drawings of horse and other animal anatomies for medical journals and universities classes reminds me of the miracle of the make-up other creatures in our lives.      

• Having taken an astronomy course in college and keeping up on space exploration has encouraged me to more deeply consider the heavens around us as miracles. Looking at the Milky Way with it billions of stars and planets creates the miracle of awe in me. 

• A course on earth science revealed the way in which our world was miraculously created and changed by astonishing forces of wind, water, volcanos, shifting and up lifting or colliding of continents.             

• Having taken courses on the classification of trees and flowers causes me to take in the wonder of how they vary in amazing ways, take in moisture, trap insects for meals, turn towards the sun, change leaf colors, grow to great heights, or produce grains for us to eat. 

• When we lived thirty-five miles outside Chicago next a vast corn field, it stunned me to see how a day’s rain can cause corn stocks to grow 1-2 feet over night. We could hear the crunching sound this made. A miracle to me.

• When I served the First Presbyterian Church in Rapid City, SD, between 1984-1994 as an associate pastor, I experienced the miracle of a woman’s changed life. There was an older divorced woman who perfectly fit the definition of a “bitch.” Her family and others who knew her wanted little to do with her. She was a member of the church to whom we took monthly home communion. I dreaded visiting her, but did so anyway. She became ill and went into a coma. Finally, the doctors told us that her days were limited and death was soon to come. As she began the “death breath” her son and I sat by her side and worked on her funeral. The son told me to tell the honest-truth about his mom in the sermon. So, I wrote about how miserable a person she was, yet God still loved her. The next day she awoke a changed person who was loving, caring and fun to visit. This was a wonderful miracle to me. I told that we had already written her funeral service, yet were delighted she was still with us. She wanted to read what I had written about her. The next miracle was that she was not upset, but told me, “I am going to change all that.” She did delightfully so. When she died from pneumonia three and a half years later, we celebrated her life and the miracle of her changed being. Her transformation also gave me an insight to a resurrected life.

• The first time I was with a dying person was also in Rapid City, SD. Emil was his name. He was a gentle humble older man who was sadly dying of cancer. One day he called me from the hospital and said, “Bob, I am dying, come quickly.” I jumped in my car and sped to the hospital five miles away. As I entered the room where Emil lay dying, I saw his sweet wife sitting in a chair next to his bed and a nurse was standing on the other side. I said, “Emil, its Bob, I am here to be with you.” He nodded to me. I read him some verses from I Thessalonians 4: 13-18, said a prayer and said to Emil, “if you see Jesus reaching out to you it is ok to go with him.” In that second, Emil, died. It felt like Jesus had entered the room, told us he had Emil, took him by the hand, and lead him on with him. Emil’s wife and the nurse felt the same way. All of this was a miracle to the three of us.              

 

I think miracles are a personal experience. Something I think is a miracle may not be one to others. That is ok, we will still be friends. This agreeing to disagree and still loving each other is a miracle in itself.

 

May you experience many miracles throughout your life.