We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
     Hebrews 2: 1-4 (NIV)

Words fascinate me. Often a single word in a passage sets me off in pondering that word. This is an exercise that includes how I use the word coupled with an exploration of how others use - interpret - it. One such journey this year was thinking about, and watching for, the word "miracle." I would like to share a few events from that exploration with you.

Dan Nephin, Associated Press Writer, wrote this about a recent mining event. Somerset, Pa. - "The nine miners trapped for three days in a flooded mine attended a church service to give thanks for the rescue some have called a miracle." One of the mine engineers, Mr. Muser, responded in the October 22 issue of The Lutheran, "A miracle is not necessarily just chance, but God's hand in our human activity."

My grandfather and father were miners. I have memories from very young childhood of the doom that fell on our community when the whistle at the local coal mine blew announcing there had been a disaster at the mines. One time, I was with my grandmother on the front porch of her house when this happened. An eerie silence fell on the street - all the women, children, and old men waiting. Finally, a man came along and told us that Will DeVol, my grandfather, had been one of the miners killed. My grandmother immediately sprang into action moving furniture out of the living room into the bedroom so that there would be space in the living room for the casket and friends during his viewing. In the midst of this activity, my grandfather came walking in the door. He had escaped the falling coal in a cave in one more time. A miracle?

In his novel, Peace Like A River, Leif Enger wrote, "Miracles have been used to characterize things or events that, though pleasant, are entirely normal. Peeping chicks as Easter time, spring generally, a clear sunrise after an overcast week --- a miracle, people say, as if they're been educated from greeting cards. I'm sorry, but nope. Such things are worth our notice every day of the week, but to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the word. Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It's true. They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in. Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave - now there's a miracle, and you can bet it upset a lot of folks who were standing around at the time. When a person dies, the earth is generally unwilling to cough him back up. A miracle contradicts the will of the earth. People fear miracles because they fear being changed - though ignoring them will change you also. No miracle happens without a witness. Someone to declare, Here's what I saw. Here's how it went. Make of it what you will."

The back of the church bulletin, August 4, 2002 also spoke to the topic of miracles. "When we have problems, we may pray for a miracle to happen like magic, quickly and effortlessly. In the Bible, and in some of our experiences, we have seen miracles happen. Water is turned into wine, the sick are healed, the dead are raised. At other times the work of miracles - making something happen that is beyond the capacity of human beings acting on their own - involves recognizing opportunities for putting God's good gifts to work."

Oh God, help me this day to pay attention to the miracles you provide to guide me in accepting and living with your salvation. Lead me into the paths that will provide the opportunities to put the good gifts you give me to work. Continue to remind me to remember you will be walking these paths with me. Amen.

Contributed by Nancy E.
Published Monday February 24, 2003
Week 13 of Liturgical Year B