The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
February 20, 2000
Vol. 3 no. 8

Everything But...
      For many, religion is about miracles - no nonsense suspension of scientific laws. I would venture, however, that most people who hold this view do not go to church - if they did, they would have to throw out this comfortable prejudice.
      Miracle is the word we attach to events in the Bible which defy our plain-sense understanding of the world. In most cases in the Gospels, the word used is "healing"; the Gospel of John prefers a "sign" to point to the authority and power of Jesus. What is taking place in the Gospels is a restoration of a human life back to wholeness and health. Whether there truly was a suspension of natural law, a magical snapping of Jesus' fingers, or a profound understanding of how the human soul works, it is beyond our ability now to say either way.
      The key phrase in the parable of the paralytic lowered down to Jesus through a hole in the roof is, "We've never seen anything like this." These would be our words exactly if a similar healing happened before our eyes. It would be something out of our experience, but not necessarily something out of the realm of human existence and possibility.
      We've all known therapists and doctors who have such an intimate sense of touch and intuition that they can find the troubled spot ahead of x-rays and other medical tests. They are not grabbing something out of thin air; it is because they have become totally absorbed in the other's pain. Compassion is the word for it: no healing, no miracle takes place without it.
      The issue for Christians is not whether Jesus healed or performed miracles, but whether it can happen to us today. Yes, it can. When one person is completely at one with another's suffering, you will never have seen before what then happens.