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Everything qualifies as a miracle. I hear people say babies, sunsets and mountains are all miracles, or at least the healthy, happy, good ones. I also hear people say it will take a miracle for some relatively mundane event to happen in their lives like, "it will be a miracle if there is no line at the post office". A jaded person would think the power of the miracle is lessened when everything is one.
We say these things because, as a species, we are constantly seeking approval. We are like whales swimming around with our mouths open and feeding on plankton trying to sustain ourselves on a high volume of bits of approval. We look for approval from parents, spouses, bosses, colleagues, friends, neighbors, even fellow worshipers. This behavior takes on all forms. "Am I doing OK?" "Are you mad at me?" "Will it ever be alright?"
And so it is with our relationship with God. We constantly seek God's approval and reassurance of worth through the show of miracles which we see as approval granting attention from the Almighty. Of course we see miracles everywhere.
What about the shoes for Lucian? Was it a miracle like a sunset or a traffic-free commute to work? Notwithstanding the jaded position, I believe it is on the same order as the feeding of the 5,000.
The feeding miracle shares a distinction with the resurrection in that it is the only other miracle reported by the four canonical gospel authors. Something about this miracle struck the disciples as being memorable, even more memorable than raising Lazarus from the dead.
Late in the evening, near dinnertime, a crowd of seekers assembled to hear the teacher. The disciples were worried about feeding such a large crowd and they asked Jesus what they should do about it. Three of the authors reported an unexpected divine answer: feed them yourself.
From the disciples' vantage point, they saw a magical moment. Jesus asked for God's blessing and somehow, a woefully inadequate amount of food became enough to feed thousands of hungry people. And the miracle did not end there. There was more than enough for the disciples to eat. In fact, after everyone ate, there was more food left over then the initial collection of a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
From a different vantage point, what if Jesus' blessing and prayer was not for some magic of sleight of hand but for the magic of a compassionate and loving heart. What if the first person in line to receive the basket of meager means knew there was not enough food for everyone and thought of others over self. It was after all late in the day and prudent people would have brought a bite or two with them. With hearts now opened by Jesus' prayer, people contributed what they had for the common weal and ate from the community's store only if they were totally unprepared. Such behavior among 5,000 people could have gone virtually unnoticed and the result would have appeared to the disciples as truly miraculous. Indeed it was.
The shoe miracle follows the same pattern. When I agreed to find 200 pairs of shoes for Lucian's children, I asked God just how I was going to do it (having no idea myself). That was my only prayer. From that point forward, God delivered people to me who took care of the rest. From casual conversations with a few people, I got the shoes, labor to clean and package them, and transportation to Romania without spending a cent.
At the time I asked God how this was going to get done, I remember hearing an answer which I quickly dismissed because it was not what I expected to hear: do it yourself.
Next: Doing Well by Doing Good
We say these things because, as a species, we are constantly seeking approval. We are like whales swimming around with our mouths open and feeding on plankton trying to sustain ourselves on a high volume of bits of approval. We look for approval from parents, spouses, bosses, colleagues, friends, neighbors, even fellow worshipers. This behavior takes on all forms. "Am I doing OK?" "Are you mad at me?" "Will it ever be alright?"
And so it is with our relationship with God. We constantly seek God's approval and reassurance of worth through the show of miracles which we see as approval granting attention from the Almighty. Of course we see miracles everywhere.
What about the shoes for Lucian? Was it a miracle like a sunset or a traffic-free commute to work? Notwithstanding the jaded position, I believe it is on the same order as the feeding of the 5,000.
The feeding miracle shares a distinction with the resurrection in that it is the only other miracle reported by the four canonical gospel authors. Something about this miracle struck the disciples as being memorable, even more memorable than raising Lazarus from the dead.
Late in the evening, near dinnertime, a crowd of seekers assembled to hear the teacher. The disciples were worried about feeding such a large crowd and they asked Jesus what they should do about it. Three of the authors reported an unexpected divine answer: feed them yourself.
From the disciples' vantage point, they saw a magical moment. Jesus asked for God's blessing and somehow, a woefully inadequate amount of food became enough to feed thousands of hungry people. And the miracle did not end there. There was more than enough for the disciples to eat. In fact, after everyone ate, there was more food left over then the initial collection of a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.
From a different vantage point, what if Jesus' blessing and prayer was not for some magic of sleight of hand but for the magic of a compassionate and loving heart. What if the first person in line to receive the basket of meager means knew there was not enough food for everyone and thought of others over self. It was after all late in the day and prudent people would have brought a bite or two with them. With hearts now opened by Jesus' prayer, people contributed what they had for the common weal and ate from the community's store only if they were totally unprepared. Such behavior among 5,000 people could have gone virtually unnoticed and the result would have appeared to the disciples as truly miraculous. Indeed it was.
The shoe miracle follows the same pattern. When I agreed to find 200 pairs of shoes for Lucian's children, I asked God just how I was going to do it (having no idea myself). That was my only prayer. From that point forward, God delivered people to me who took care of the rest. From casual conversations with a few people, I got the shoes, labor to clean and package them, and transportation to Romania without spending a cent.
At the time I asked God how this was going to get done, I remember hearing an answer which I quickly dismissed because it was not what I expected to hear: do it yourself.
Next: Doing Well by Doing Good
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