Miracles and Why We’re Reluctant to Own them

A miracle suggests divine intervention in human affairs.

Many of us tend to think that believing in miracles is unscientific. But it is science that has proved the existence of miracles, and it is because of a miracle, that we humans live and breathe on planet Earth

Fred Hoyle (2015-2001), the atheist-turned-agnostic astronomer, is responsible for coining the term the Big Bang, the explosion that created the universe.  Hoyle’s data revealed that the highly ordered event could not have occurred by random chance. His atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments and he said, “A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkey-ed with physics.”  In spite of his observations, he remained an agnostic, a skeptic, who resisted the idea that the entire universe had been created de novo; instead he held on to a limited notion that only stars had been created from nothing.

Other scientists, according to an article by Eric Metaxas in the Wall Street Journal,  believe that the evidence of God’s existence may be irrefutable. The theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming,” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator . . . gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

The writer C.S. Lewis, who, influenced by his friend  J.R.R.Tolkien, changed from an atheist to a Christian, explained that a miracle is something unique that breaks a pattern so expected and established we hardly consider that it could be broken.  In his 1947 Miracles, he wrote, “Men became scientific because they expected law in nature and they expected law in nature because they believed in a lawgiver.” That is why most of the great founding fathers of modern science believed in an order. Scientists, a few of which include Galileo (astronomy), Newton (calculus), Mendel (genetics) and Einstein (physics), were convinced that an order existed and pursued the search for it.   In essence, science is the discovery or clarification of an order that reveals God in nature.

In a New York Times article, Dr. Jacalyn Duffin, a physician and author of Medical Miracles andMedical Saints, summarized her experience with miracles. As a physician, she was asked by an ecclesiastical tribunal to review a slide of a blood sample. Only after she read the slide was she told that the specimen belonged to a woman she had treated many years ago for a fatal illness. The patient had recovered after praying to Marie-Marguerite d’Youville (1701-77),  the founder of the Order of Sisters of Charity of Montreal and a candidate to become the first Canadian-born saint. When  Duffin affirmed that the patient’s recovery could not be explained by science, but indeed transcended scientific understanding, it was declared a miracle and d’Youville achieved sainthood.

Curious about miracles after this experience, Dr. Duffin spent hours in the Vatican archives, examining more than 1400 miracle investigations from 1588 and 1999. She discovered that opinions of doctors detailing treatment and testimony was a critical part of the canonization process. Medicine is regarded as a manifestation of God’s work on earth. To be declared a miracle, a person has to be sick and dying in spite of having received treatment.

Dr. Duffin notes the parallels between medicine and religion. Both systems are based on evolving beliefs. Medicine is rooted in natural explanations and causes while religion is defined by the supernatural and the possibility of transcendence. Both address our plight as suffering mortals. Medicine helps to postpone death and relieve symptoms, while religion attempts to console us and reconcile us to pain and loss.

Given that miracles exist then, why are many of us skeptical or resistant? I think we fear that we have something to loose-- that we’ll be judged or have to give up a sense of control or power or free will. In actual fact, as Dr. Duffin substantiates, we have something to gain-two avenues instead of one- to heal and ease pain and suffering.  If we open ourselves to the healing of medicine, prayer and miracles, we may be more likely to be healed.

In my next blog, I’ll discuss how by observing nature’s laws in our daily lives, we can open ourselves to miracles.

Conclusion:  Although miracles may not be an everyday occurrence, we benefit from keeping an open mind toward the phenomenon of the mysterious, inexplicable aspect of human reality.

Dear Reader, I welcome your comments. jsimon145@gmail.com

How We Defend Against Death (from Ebenezer Scrooge to Eleanor Roosevelt)

Nature is cruel indeed.  We’re created with the capacity to develop huge egos and accomplish great feats. Then ultimately we lose our entire being. In spite of our capacity to alter nature (test-tube babies are now common), we are subject to some of Nature’s eternal laws. Bodily deterioration is one, immutable reality. Walt Disney may have hoped to have his cryo-frozen body return to life when technology advanced.  But as of this date, no one has come back from the apparently final, inert state.  

About the clutches of the grim reaper, the comedian George Carlin joked, “It’s definitely on your schedule.” Humor is one good defense. Some defenses against death, like humor are helpful, while others, like denial, have been portrayed as destructive. According to cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker,  denial culminates in wars. In his 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Denial of Death, Becker describes how dualism (the division between body and symbol), coupled with our refusal to accept the body’s demise, causes us to concoct heroic belief systems. He proposes that the conflict between one belief system and another leads to wars.

In this election cycle, it’s important to note that we are vulnerable to leaders who motivate by means of harnessing belief systems to fight for a cause.

Becker suggested that creative people manage to integrate the dualism through means of their creative projects. In essence, life can be viewed as a creative project in which each of us has the potential to participate.  In other words, heroism is embodied in everyday life. Through our good deeds to help others, we make the world a better place and create positive memories. Memories are the symbol through which we live on (in others’ minds) after we die.

In A Christmas Carol, the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens, Scrooge is haunted by the Ghosts of Christmas (past, present and future). These spirits awaken in him an awareness of death that transforms him from a bitter and miserly man into a generous one. By giving to others, he experiences the joy that had been missing in his life. After his death he will be remembered for enhancing others’ lives.

In her 1940 book, The Moral Basis of Democracy, Eleanor Roosevelt encourages us to prioritize the well-being of others and to choose love and faith over hatred and fear. Living by her tenets creates positive memories of our lives.

If we follow Becker’s thinking, an awareness of death, coupled with the idea that we live on in symbols of good memories, can help us accept death and create peace in our world.

Conclusion: Acknowledging the dualism between body and symbol in an awareness of death motivates us to live life to its fullest and to heal the world.

Dear Reader, I welcome your thoughts.

jsimon145@gmail.com

Identity in A Hall of Mirrors

Mirror neurons were discovered by the Italian neurophysiologist- researcher Dr. Rizzolatti in the 1980’s. Regarded as one of the most important findings in the last few decades, the mirror neurons confer the ability to recognize our reflections in the mirror, and are integral to our sense of self.

The finding explains much of early child development and good-enough parenting.  When children’s interests and talents are perceived accurately and ‘mirrored’ with encouragement and support, they develop a positive sense of real self.

The child psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Stern, observed and wrote about the dynamics of the parent-child interaction in his classic text, The Interpersonal World ofthe Infant. He describes the process occurs in which parents or primary care-takers reflect back to the developing child their perceptions of him, similar to an image in the mirror. When the caretakers’ reflections are in tune with the child, he develops a genuine or real sense of self.

 A mother who is tuned into her child night say,

“You seem sad today.  Perhaps it’s because you can’t visit your friend?”

A parent who fails to mirror, dismisses the importance of his feelings, and might say,

“Oh don’t be silly. You’ll see your friend another time. “

In essence each of us walks through a Hall of Mirrors in life. People reflect various images/pictures of how they perceive us. When we possess a genuine sense of ourselves, we (unconsciously) integrate these diverse perceptions and absorb the positive, realistic images.

Maestro, a play currently running at 59E59th Street theatre is a musical rendition of the life of genius composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. His childhood was wrought with difficulty, because his father failed to recognize his son’s musical gifts. Instead, the older Bernstein projected his own fears of financial disaster upon young Leonard.

 As a result, Leonard was forced to fend for himself, work at an early age to earn money to pursue his training.  Lacking  paternal understanding, Bernstein searched for acceptance and love, first from mentors, and later through a series of  (indiscriminate) relationships with men.

Performer Hersey Felder brilliantly portrays Leonard, who in later life, regretted that he didn’t invest more time and energy to composing.

We can hypothesize that if Bernstein’s father had been able to mirror, to perceive his son’s gifts instead of projecting his own personal fears, the composer would have been able to focus more attention on composing.

Conclusion: To the extent that we are mirrored, encouraged and acknowledged for our achievements and our creative pursuits, we are unified within ourselves. To the degree that we are perceived through a distorted mirror, we are torn asunder and may search for approval at a cost to our real self and creativity.

Dear Reader, I look forward to your responses.