Uptown Waterloo
I've gone back and forth over the years on what I've thought concerning the "miracle stories" in the New Testament - y0u know, the ones where Jesus makes a blind man see or tells his disciples to go back out onto the lake fishing, at which point they haul in a record haul of fish.
What to do with these stories? For a long time I took the whole Bible to be true and without fault, and I took these miracle stories to be literal. Jesus actually did heal the sick and did walk on water. Then I moved away from much of the faith of my youth and I considered these stories to be allegories or symbols of some truth Jesus or the gospel writers were trying to get at.
Now, while I'm not sure, I think many of these stories are true. Jesus did break the loaves and fishes and fed 5, 000. But...are they miracles?
Author Eric Butterworth argues that these are not miracles at all but are the natural way of things as pointed out by an enlightened person, Jesus. The universe, I think he would say, bends towards health (Jesus healing blind men and lepers, etc) and abundance (multiplying the loaves and fishes and telling his disciples to cast out their fishing nets, etc).
Some of it has to do with perspective. Do you think that Life is set out to get you, or that Life is always a hard struggle and will be til the day you die? Or do you believe that Life is abundant and that there are infinite possibilities of good open to you? I firmly believe the latter. It's not just about a positive attitude, though that has a lot to do with it. I believe that there is a Spiritual Force at work, creating the Universe and unfolding it. And that Force - call it God, Spirit, Life, Love, Father, etc - desires health in every way - mentally, physically, emotionally. She desires abundance and peace - peace of mind and peace of heart.
Life, then, is not about struggling against a Universe that "has it out to get you." No matter how dim our lives have looked like up until right now, no matter what we have faced, we have a powerful choice. And that is to raise the consciousness of our minds to connect with God who lives inside of us. To connect with this power and learn how to trust fully. God will not let us go. Or, if you wish, God will not let you sink. There is of course the powerful "miracle" story of Jesus telling a disciple in a boat to step out and walk on the water with him. The disciple is fine as long as he keeps his eyes on Jesus, but he starts to swim when he starts doubting.
So if the Universe/God is all about health and abundance, how do we connect with that? How do we tap into it? Well, let's look at what Jesus had to say about this. On more than one occasion when he supposedly healed someone, what did he say? "I have made you well?" No, he didn't say that. "Your faith has made you well." That's more like it. Jesus, and I believe God is always willing to heal and always willing to pour out abundance. It's not too good to be true. As Divine Beings ourselves, we inherit these things from God. It is our job to have the faith, to raise our minds and believe, even in the midst of doom and almost overwhelming gloom.
We don't need a miracle, we just need to raise our consciousness and tap into the rich inheritance that is ours. No matter if we've been wandering like the prodigal son in the Bible, our Father (our Divine self) is always waiting to take up back and to throw us a party.
Blessings on you this moment,
Mark Andrew
