Monday, June 03, 2013

Choosing Your Miracles

I've been thinking a lot about miracles.  I have heard of a lot of people lately who have decided that there is no God because they have never witnessed a miracle in  their lives, or they have never been part of spiritual events in their lives.

I have two things to say to that: one, yes you have; and two, it doesn't matter whether you have or you haven't, because even if you have, a miracle, as we have come to define it, does not a testimony make.

Too many people define miracles as something spectacular: bringing the dead back to life, building a boat in order to save the world's animals in a flood, or seeing angels.  While all of these have literally happened in the history of the world, and all of these are examples of miracles, I think all too often we tend to think these types are the only miracles that count as a miracle (did that sentence make sense?....yes.  It did).

A miracle, as defined by the LDS Church, is "An extraordinary event caused by the power of God. Miracles are an important element in the work of Jesus Christ. They include healings, restoring the dead to life, and resurrection. Miracles are a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is necessary in order for miracles to be manifested." I like this definition for a couple of reasons.  First, it is specific.  Second, it is general.   Third, it tells you exactly how to have miracles work in your life.  I know, sounds like I just contradicted myself.  But I didn't.  Let me explain.

This definition is very specific in that it lists things like healing, restoration of life, and resurrections, which are very miraculous.  But the first sentence of that definition, "an extraordinary event caused by the power of God," is very general.  What kind of event?  What exactly does extraordinary mean?  With this degree of generalities, almost anything, depending on the person, can be a miracle. Fantastic, I say.

For example, I think the fact that my body has the capability to make a baby from scratch is pretty dang miraculous.  In fact, if you have ever made a baby, helped make a baby, or have been a baby, then you have been witness to a miracle--the Power of God bringing to pass an extraordinary event-- in your life.  I think that's everybody.

No amount of science in the world can convince me that a cosmic bang made it possible for me to sit around eating donuts while my body makes a baby all by itself (after the initial conception, of course).  Because, guess what.  I have no idea how all that happens.  My body just knows how to do it, and at the end, a perfect little human being pops out of me, and then they grow up and walk and talk and everything.  Miracle.

And I am sorry, but a brain that can remember the words to every song I have ever learned since I was like, four, as well as have the entire script of Grease floating around in there cannot have been an accident.  The fact that I still know every word to "Lost in Your Eyes" by Debbie Gibson after 25 years?  Miracle.

When you have decided that you need to move, but you have no home to move to, no way to buy a new home, and apparently no way to sell your current home, and then, all of a sudden, it's sold without even listing it on the market?  Miracle.

Now, you might be thinking, these are not miracles.  These are just happy accidents, feats of science that can't be explained (hello, extraordinary event, anyone?), not the power of God.  Okay.  I am not going to convince you otherwise, and you are not going to convince me otherwise, and we will just agree to disagree. If this is you, you can stop reading.  It won't hurt my feelings.  Promise.  (Just remember, no meanies in the comments!)

It is at this point that I move on to what I said earlier: a miracle does not a testimony make.  I say this because if you choose not to see a birth of your child (or your own birth, hello) as a miracle, then you are simply choosing to ignore miracles.  You cannot build a testimony on what you refuse to see.  Even if you did witness something supernatural, like the rising of the dead, or an angel, it still will not convince you of the Power of God because you choose to not see the power of God at work in your life.

For example, I have always been fascinated by Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon.  For anyone who is not familiar with the story, I will refer you to here and you can watch the stories and look at the pictures.  Laman and Lemuel were witnesses to many BIG miracles, the kind that most of us don't see much of.  Namely,

  • Laman and Lemuel witnessed Nephi retrieve the brass plates, a seemingly impossible feat.
  • They were stopped by an angel when they were trying to beat up their little brother (yeah. They saw and ANGEL)
  • They survived eight years wandering the harsh desert and survived (remember, they were little rich boys who weren't that outdoor savvy)
  • They watched as their little broth made a bow and arrow and single-handidly feed the clan.
  • They were led by a magic little ball that somehow told them where to go.
  • They built a boat with their little brother.  Oh, wait.  First, their little brother made tools to make a boat, then he shocked them, like with an electric current or something powerful like that, and only then did they help build a boat.
  • They survived a typhoon or hurricane or some sort of major sea storm because their little brother prayed the storm away.
  • They landed in a land that had a lot of riches and plenty.
That's a lot of miracles for one life, and these are the types of miracles that miracle-seeker dreams are made of.  I mean, we're talking angels, magic compasses, electric shocks, the works.  And, now this is why I say you don't need a miracle to believe in a God: They still rebelled from God, from the prophet (who happened to be their father) and turned away from the truth of the Gospel. They chose not to build their testimony on the evidence of the Power of God.  Nothing could have convinced them to believe, because they chose not to.

 All these miracles, and still they chose not to believe in the power of God.  That's why a miracle does not a testimony make (Now, I realize that in order to take this story as historically accurate, you would have to believe that Joseph Smith miraculously translated the Book of Mormon, and that it is a history of the Native people of North America, so this might not even be good evidence for you, which is sort of my point).

It's choosing to see the miracle, to look at the miracle that counts.  Notice the last sentence in the definition above, "Faith is necessary for miracles to be manifested."  I would like to point out that the word "manifested" means "to display or show."  It doesn't say if you don't have faith miracles won't happen.  It says if you don't have faith, you won't see the miracles. Basically, you can't demand a miracle in order to believe. That's backward thinking, that is.  You have to believe to see the miracle that already exists.

 In other words, you have to have faith.  You have to have faith to recognize a miracle for what it is, and to believe that miracle was worked by the power of God for you and your welfare.  

And that's the stickler every time: It's really up to you.  Having miracles worked on your behalf is going to happen whether you think so or not.  Look at the fact that you were born, or that you have kids who say clever things, or that you even live in a world where water exists.  Miracles, all of them, if you choose to see it that way.  It's recognizing the miracles that some people don't understand, or refuse to understand.  You can choose to see it, or you can choose not to see it.  It's up to you.  

A testimony in the Power of God is a choice.  

I guess what I am trying to say is if you claim that you no longer believe in a God because you have never seen miracles worked in your life, I call BS on you.  You don't believe in God because it is easy to not believe in God, and it is hard to have faith. It is not the lack of miracles that have failed you, or the church that has failed you.  You have chosen to fail at faith.  (That sounds mean.  I'm sorry if it's mean.  I'm not intending to be mean.)

 I have never seen an angel, and I have never seen any body raised from the dead.  But I have had so many miracles worked in my life.  I have chosen to see the extraordinary events that evidence the existence of God.

I don't think I've seen so many miracles because I am any better than anyone else, or because I am more special.  I've seen so many miracles because I've looked for miracles, and I have faith that they will happen for me.  When you look for something, you usually find it. I choose to look for miracles, and I find them, everyday.

I have two children that I made basically from scratch, and I can't tell you how I did it.  This in and of itself is a miracle, but I was told that I would never have kids.  And they're here.  There are so many more, like the sale of my house, the way I met my husband, and the world around me. So many miracles.  They're small, granted.  They could be overlooked, if I wanted to overlook them.  But I don't, and they all add up to equal extraordinary.  

God has worked to make my life extraordinary.  God thinks I'm worth having an extraordinary life.  God thinks that you are worth having an extraordinary life.  It's a miracle.

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