I was in Hawaii with my wife when one of the periodic vomiting of earth’s innards occurred there. The earth erupted. It was noted in the newspapers as a volcanic eruption and there was nothing that could keep me from seeing it. I drove to the site, but was stopped two miles or so short of the rim where authorities, scientists, and tourists were permitted to observe and study the event. My wife did not feel up to the hike to the site, but insisted that I go. I did, and the experience was breathtaking. The deep red lava spewed upward like a fountain, and flowed like a river toward the lower levels of the site. There was some noise in the eruption, but far less than I expected. The onlookers were silent, in awe of what some thought to be a miracle. The event was greater for me than my exaltation at Niagara, or the Grand Canyon, or any other of magnificent natural sites I had seen in the world. The geologists explained what was happening. It did not occur to them to call this a miracle. Some of the laymen, even reporters, did believe that it was for them, a miracle. If it were a miracle, no one could explain it. The geologists won this one – for now.
But, the explanation does not remove the consideration of miracle. We go back to the beginning for our discussion. The world, and the universe we know about, is accounted for in science by what is known as the Big Bang Theory. Once the universe can be accounted for as beginning, we face the miracle of the Big Bang. It came from what source? Whatever the source, the faith oriented person, would relate that source to God. If the immediate source were found to be from some previously initiated cause, then that cause would also trace to origins. The physical universe is here, so there must be origins. The first cause for the faith driven person is God. Such an idea must be at very least as good as a belief that something came from nothing. For the devout, the choice for God seems to be a no-brainer. Even some skeptics and agnostics are willing to posit God, but calculate that he has really important things to do, so is unconcerned about earth and mankind. From that point there is no obvious difference between the agnostic and the atheist. There is a point to consider, and that is the present universe is a miracle, with perceivable laws that are sufficiently understood that there is left no room for miracle in functioning. A miracle refers to first source, and that must be God. The second source is Providence (God at work) which is simply that God fed into the system the features of that system, some of which features appear almost miraculous. A true miracle can never be explained in human/natural causation, but is perceived in a natural environment.
These Pages refer to miracle often: A miracle is an event palpable to the senses, but unexplained by any natural means. If the definition is acceptable, the reference to miracles made by so many persons, even those with the knowledge of cause and effect in nature, is incorrect. If something may be explained as to its immediate source, it is not a miracle. It arrives in the course of nature. Even then we may miss the miracle context of a natural event. We examine the various explanations from persons who studied the parting of the Red Sea following Moses’ prayer, and withholding waters of the Jordan under Joshua. We take the Jordan for our illustration. We find Israel east of Jordan, and, on signal, walking through the river bed, on dry land, to the west side. One geologist published his study, that there have been occasions when the rock slides have dammed up the river and interrupted for a short time the flow of water. He felt this accounted for the reputed miracle. The miracle may be in the context. Even if the river were dammed so as to stop the water flow, an occurrence at a time when a million persons showed up to cross comprises the miracle. The timing is unexplained by any human or natural cause related to the river. It is in this context meaning and purpose that we may experience miracles in life. A miracle may have a setting as when Jesus turned water into wine. All vessels were filled with water, and Christ’s participation created a miracle. He used a lad’s lunch to feed five thousand. These are miracles that combine nature with super-nature. We may have the same thing in our time with what is remission in medical parlance. If the remission were found to be natural to whatever services and medicines preceded, the remission is not a miracle. If no human explanation is possible the remission is a miracle. We are not able to account for every natural or miraculous event. Faith can take on unbelievable possibilities. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020