Last week I was blessed with an opportunity to catch up with an old friend. Unfortunately, the conversation line was opened with an email including questions like, "Why are people telling me that I need to have faith that it was a miracle?"
The weekend before, this friend was watching a college football game at his father-in-law's land. In the middle of the game, a crop-duster thought he was going to make it safely under some power lines and ended up in a heap in the father-in-law's land. My friend, his wife and the father-in-law all raced out to the plane to see what they could do.
They were able to pull the pilot out of the wreckage and get him to the hospital in somewhat stable condition despite him having ruptured every organ in his body besides his heart. At first I thought my friend's main concern was his second thoughts about whether he and his family members (including his pregnant wife) should have entered a wreck site like that because of the possible negative after-effects. Soon, the conversation (over G-chat) ventured into the heart of the problem... theology.
He was not yet able to wrap his head around seeing the family of the pilot gather around the hospital bed and constantly saying, "I throw God's hands around him." To which his response is, "Why would they say that? They better hope a good surgeon's hands are around him." It also bothered him that they could not stop thanking God, while only the wife of the pilot could call later to thank him and his family for what they did.
The frustration continued at work where his co-workers insisted that it was a miracle from God, again ignoring the work of his wife (certified trained nurse) and the sacrifices his family went through to help the guy. The most irksome to him was his co-worker's insistence that it was the devil that caused the crash and God who came to pick up the pieces.
About that time, I was confirmed in my assumption that what my friend really needed was someone to vent to. That fact that I was also a "churchy-type" and still agreed with many of his concerns helped, but was only secondary.
Now it has left me with some discussion topics. What do we define as a "miracle." Does highly improbable by default equal a miracle? Do we actually dishonor God by directing all thanks to God and neglecting our neighbors (who very well may be agents of God's "miracle"). Are God's hands and a surgeon's hands mutually exclusive?
(we'll see if I get back on this blog-ball thing)
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