This I Believe

This I believe

Like the old saying goes, “I’ll believe it when I see it with my own two eyes”–

I believe in miracles. Not because I have more or better faith than the next person, but simply because I’ve seen a miracle.

I think most people would like to see a miracle. St. Thomas, the doubting apostle, was no different than the rest of us. He wanted to see the miracle.

If a trusted friend, told you that a miracle would happen next week, would you drop what you were doing and go to witness it? I probably would. Many people go to places where other people have reportedly seen miraculous things, hoping that they too will see something miraculous, or that they will be miraculously cured of something that ails them. Those of us who don’t go probably have all of the miracles that we need, but we may not recognize them for what they are. Maybe if we got together and compared all of our miracles we would have a better understanding, a bigger picture if you will, of whomever it is that created us, and everything around us. And why.

I do research, and like many other scientists I try to understand how things work.

But rather than burden you with how I reconcile science and faith, I’ll bet that you are more interested in hearing about my particular miracle. Well, instead of describing my miracle, I’ll do even better. I’ll tell you how to experience your own, kind of like, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day — Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” The secret is this: miracles surround us. Big miracles! Spectacular honest-to-God miracles! And some smaller miracles too, but a miracle is still a miracle, isn’t it? That’s exactly why we don’t see most of them. We are de-sensitized. We expect miracles to be one-in-a-thousand lifetime events. I think that we don’t feel the Creator’s touch because he touches us so frequently.

To find a miracle you just need to expand your scope of wonder. The next time you get a lump in your throat because an emotion has stirred you, look closely. There is a miracle. Who knows what it will be? Maybe you’ll see something in the eyes of your child, or feel something while you hold them as they sleep. Maybe it will happen when something reminds you of a loved one who has died. There! A miracle!

When you think of it, every time you cry, either from sorrow or joy you are closer to your Creator. And as you expand your sense of wonder you will see more miracles. You will stand in the rain and wonder how God thought of such a creative way to sprinkle exactly what we need on us. Such is the way of miracles.