Don't believe in miracles?
 

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Miracles

By Walt Whitman

1819-1892

Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love, or sleep in the bed at night
with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet
and bright,
Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring;
These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.

To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the
ships with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?

Philippine Typhoon Miracle
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...L8vundfu_GQutA

Storms sweep across Midwest, kill 6 in Illinois Miracle
http://wfld.images.worldnow.com/images/23996736_BG5.jpg

[quote=TVMayor;786141]Philippine Typhoon Miracle


Thank you, Mayor, for pointing out that miracle of humanity too. As we watch the evening news and also do what we can from our station, we are amazed at the miracle of love and reaching of hands to help. The efforts to get aid quickly to the population and the wonderful doctors, nurses and aid workers feverishly treating as many of our fellow citizens of the world is a miracle to behold. God bless those devastated areas and may they continue to recover with our aid. (Hope you did your part, Mayor... :pray:).

How many things are alive on this planet? How many quadrillion? How many people? 9 billion? One individual is hardly a miracle.

It's funny how religion makes people think...or not.

Footprints in the Sand


One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."
Mary Stevenson

Isn't INDIVIDUAL free choice and opinion wonderful? It even provides a platform for minority reports.

btk

It's fine and dandy as long as it's based on a fact or truth. When people have opinions and beliefs that are irrational, based on lies, then it becomes a problem.

Another good point by Don. Don, you have my attention, keep em coming.

As measured by who or whom?
As judged by who, whom or what?
Dare I ask how faith fits the filter being suggested?

btk

A fact is a fact, a truth is a truth, why would it matter who/whom is doing the measuring or the judging? Facts and truths can stand alone. Only when it's NOT the truth or a fact does it becomes subjective and a "verdict" is necessary. Then it's called a "theory"...not a "fact". Which is what we usually see in day to day life...theories taken as fact...acted on as fact.

What do we REALLY "know"? Not much. What do we THINK we know? What we're told... Do you believe your priest? Or the scientist? How about neither? Both sides have an agenda and want you to believe their story...their explanation.

The bigger problem is...what is the "truth"? Was is a "fact"? And how do you know? Is that keyboard you're using solid? It appears to be, you'd believe it if I told you it was. It's a "fact", the keyboard is solid. But it's not. Zoom in close enough and you'd see it's 99.99% empty space. Become small enough and it would take millions of years of random movement to hit something. It appears solid due to limitations of your senses.

Here is another... What IS gravity? We know its effect, but we don't know WHAT it is. Electromagnetism is the same, it's responsible for everything you see and touch, you wouldn't exist without it, we can use it, but we have no idea WHAT it's "made of". That's the thing with "facts", people think they "know", but usually, they don't. Things are MUCH more complicated than most people realize.

Yes, to the "ignorant" (and I don't use the word as derogatory), I'm simply stating "you don't know", life appears to be miraculous. But believe me, there are a ton of other "miraculous" things out there that had to come first. Life is a by-product of a myriad of events that were a long time in coming.

If life was "planned", it was by someone with a LOT of patience. I personally have no idea how life got started.

How does "faith" fit in? The OP posted something that was religious in nature..."miracles" are exclusively in the domain of religion. Otherwise they're simply "improbable events". I don't believe "your" religion any more than the explanation of the Muslim, the Hindi, or the Buddhist...

When you deal with very large numbers, say 9 billion people, a one in a million event...a "miracle"...happens to 9000 people...making it not so rare...not so miraculous. If everyone on the planet bought a lottery ticket...on average 50 people would win every drawing. "Miracles" happen every day...

monarch migration...I am not making this up...
http://youtu.be/_-nnc6dWUJg

My husband and I believe in miracles. A miracle has saved his life twice.

Once in New York, he was ready to cross the street at a stop light, one early morning, when he heard a voice say STOP. This voice was not from a person around him because there wasn't anyone there but him (he's a very early riser and was looking for a open coffee shop). The voice was in his head...and it surprised him. He stopped and didn't leave the curb! Thank goodness he stayed put because a bus ran the stop light and would have hit him had he crossed.

The second time was through re-occurring dreams he had of an upcoming car accident. He never mentioned the dreams to me but became overly cautious when driving because the dreams bothered him. On his way to work one morning, a car came around a curve on the wrong side of the road. My husband was in the lane of a head on collision...yet there just happened to be a small turn off lane where he was. He was able to avoid an accident by being able to quickly turn off on this short, connecting road. He believed it was because of his dreams that he was saved by being more tuned in to others while driving. He was so deeply affected by this that he wrote a song about "Second Chances" that I posted on the "What Music Inspires You" thread.

Faith is a miracle in and of itself!