This is not a note to prove that miracles exist, or whether or not they should be defined exclusively as events that are inexplicable outside of the supernatural. Others have already done that.
This note, instead, is a reminder to be looking for them.
I define miracles as those happenings that, given the constancy or inconsistency of things, should not happen. Of course the definition must include that miracles tend towards good. Therefore, it is miraculous, the moment emotional, physical, mental, or spiritual burdens and pains are lifted (regardless of the amount of “work” put in to lift such things). It is miraculous when we are given the grace to carry such burdens in the first place. It is miraculous when we find ourselves uniquely disposed for the work of a particular time and place. It is miraculous when we find ourselves able to adapt and change to thrive a particular time and place.
In the past weeks we all have had unique experiences. Our personalities, work, relationships, geography, economies, and governments, have all interacted in ways we may not have ever experienced in same way before. Maybe we have seen parts of ourselves and our world that we didn’t quite know existed. Maybe we were pleasantly surprised. Maybe surprised, but not so pleasantly.
In the midst of it all, I’m keeping my eyes open for the miraculous. The artist who still protects time and space to create. The family whose relationships are renewed by experiencing a crisis together. The solitary soul who experiences their good neighbors checking in on them. The solitary soul who find themselves checking in on their neighbors. The birth of ideas, relationships, and life in the midst of so much trauma and death. Some of these might seem little in the grand scheme of things. I find them all to be miraculous.
I’m curious, what kind of miracles are you seeing today?