- People often say that nature is full of miracles. After all, no one can make a tree or a flower. Some feel that the process of producing a baby in the womb is a miracle. This is because it is not possible to recreate the process of the heart, brain, kidneys being made; the whole idea of producing another human being is miraculous to some.
- There are some nature miracles that are accounted for in the Bible. The cursing of the fig tree, Mark 11:12-21; Matthew 21:18-20; Luke 13:6-7. Turning water into wine, John 2:1-11. Calming the tempest, Mark 4:35-40; Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25.
- The media often uses the word ‘Miracle’ in the wrong context. They will claim that an even is a miracle however they do not necessarily mean that it actually was a miracle, it is a misuse of the word.
- Often when the unlikely happens the media will dame it a miracle, for example, Miracle Girl Survives.
- Non-religious miracles are miracles that are not believed to have been preformed by a higher power but by other means.
- Some believe that crystals contain healing powers, Here are a few examples of Gem stones and what they are believed to cure: Amethyst – Acne; Rose Quartz, Carnelian- Bruises; Fluorite, Larimar, Emerald, Yellow Topaz- Colds and Flu and Aquamarine, Topaz, Blue Lace Agate – Swollen Glands.
- Others feel that the Earth itself has healing qualities, this links to Nature Miracles as it is to do with herbal remedies, they are available in Health food shops and one range are Dr Bach Flower Remedies. There is a wide variety of different remedies and each are believed to help heal mental issues such as; living in the past, the remedy suggested is Honeysuckle.
It is hard to give a definite explanation as to what a miracle is, in a sense it depends on the person, a Christian will perceive an extraordinary even as a miracle performed by God. However, and Atheist would probably not think it to be a miracle at all.
Most seem to consider an unusual even that has a positive outcome as a miracle; for example: Passing an Exam. Unusual events that have negative outcomes tend to not be considered as a miracle; for example, being struck by lightening on 4 separate occasions.
Unusual events cannot be used as proof of the existence of God and they occur all the time and can be explained scientifically.
Here are some examples of unusual events that could be looked upon as miracles.
“Lieutenant I. M. Chisov of the former Soviet Union was flying his Llyushin 4 on a bitter cold day in January 1942, when it was attacked by 12 German Messerchmitts. Convinced that he had no chance of surviving if he stayed with his badly battered plane, Chisov bailed out at 21,980 feet. With the fighter still buzzing around, Chisov cleverly decided to free-fall out of the arena. It was his plan not to open his chute until he was down to only 1000ft above the ground. Unfortunately, he lost consciousness en route. As luck would have it, he crashed at the edge of a steep ravine covered with 3ft of snow. Hitting at about 120 M/H, he ploughed along its slope until he came to rest at the bottom. Chisov awoke 20 mins later, bruised and sore, but miraculously he has suffered only a concussion of the spine and a fractures pelvis. Three and a half months later he was back at work as a flight instructor”. Hecht, Eugene. Physics: Calculus. 2nd edition. United States: Brooks/Cole, 2000. P85.
Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade was on a bombing mission over Germany on 23 March 1944 when his Lancaster bomber flying at 18,000 feet was blazed apart and in flames when he was forced to jump, without a parachute or be burned to death. He dove out of his destroyed aircraft hoping on a quick death. His speed accelerated to over 120 miles per hour and he impacted on a snow covered sloping forest. He was completely uninjured and later captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story.
Unlike the above examples there are some unusual events that have happened that have been believed by many that it was a miracle performed by God, or a higher power.
The most famous would be the crying statue of Mary. There have been countless reported crying statues of Mary from all around the world, Lewis, Kansas 1996, Lake Ridge, Virginia: 1992, San Thomas, Mexico 1992, Bolivia - July 28, 1999 etc.
In one case Las Vegas – 1998; in the back garden shrine of Pablo Covarrubias stands a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe brought from the Basilica in Mexico City. The Virgin regularly weeps real tears that are then harvested in little cotton balls and distributed to the faithful. According to Pablo, many supernatural healings have been documented, and one very windy day, an apparition of Mary appeared in the sky above the shrine.
In conclusion I feel that it depends on a persons perspective and religions beliefs as to whether they see an unusual event as a miracle or not. Some may feel that a miracle is performed by God, whilst others may think that it is just something unusual that has happened. The misuse of the word ‘Miracle’ in media is something that I would say is only due to the fact that it draws the reader’s attention in. I don’t think that it is possible to completely explain what exactly a miracle is as I mentioned previously it depends on a persons point of view, but I think in conclusion, it could be left as an unusual event, after all, it is the unexplainable which are called Miracles by some.