29 August 2010

Miracle

Miracle in a flower....
What does one consider as a miracle? Is it an unexpected outcome or an inexplicable one? It is important to distinguish between the two.
All man-made things can be explained while with all non-man made things one sooner or later reaches a level of abstraction beyond which they cannot be explained and hence become worthy of being categorized as a miracle. However, since the outcome is not unexpected we do not really consider a miracle even though it is of sorts.
Take for example the journey of a tiny seed towards becoming a full-fledged tree. Even though all parts of this journey cannot be explained they are expected and predictable and hence lost upon us as a miracle.
Is it then that the occurrence of something unexpected, shrouded in some shade of mystery, is considered a miracle – healing for example?
It is then our expectation that stands in the way of our seeing everything in this Universe as a miracle, as something inexplicable and also quite unexpected by the same virtue.
There is, however, another aspect to a miracle and that is our tendency to tie it to something ‘positive’. If a plane crashes and no one is hurt and no one dies, we consider it a miracle. However, a plane crashes for no known reason (unexplained and unexpected) and all aboard die we call it a disaster and not a miracle. Is this distinction based on vocabulary, structure of language or is there something deeper in the human psyche that influences this choice of judgment?
A miracle then is that which is unexpected, unexplained, and with a positive outcome for the affected. If any one of these three elements is missing we fail to recognize it as a miracle. So to live a life without expectation, in wonder, while seeing everything in a positive light would be to live a life full of miracles at all times.