gratefulness - 27th Sunday C 2013

In a bible class once, a participant asked me, did God stop doing miracles?  Why I asked?  Because, he said, in the bible we always find God doing miracles. He would fight for them in their battles, he will send rain why the earth is dry, God will cause a spring of water to rise when they are thirsty, he will rain bread to feed them when they are hungry, he even set water aside so that his people can cross the sea by walking on dry land.  Even in the time of Jesus he did a lot of miracles.  He cast out evil spirits, he straightened hands withered by abnormality, he multiplied bread and fish, not just once but twice, he calmed the sea and commanded the wind to die down, he even raised the dead to life.  So many miracles.  But now no more.  Did God stop doing miracles?  This is also the cry of the prophet Habakuk. “I cry for help,” he said, “but you do not listen.” Is this the result of what Jesus in the gospel is saying?  Are there no more miracles because of our lack of faith?

And so I answered the person who asked the question, trying to answer him in an academic way saying  In the bible there are many miracles because this is how the author of the books see things, this is how the prophets sees things.  When you look at effects there are three kinds of causes – the immediate causes, the proximate causes and the ultimate.  Why did it rain?  If you answer by looking at the immediate cause you would say that this is due to humidity, precipitation, this kind of cloud coupled with this kind of wind.  That is the immediate cause.  If you look at the proximate cause you would point to the season, the tilt of the earth, the placement of the moon, the position of the sun.  But if you are like the people of the bible who look for the ultimate causes of things, when asked why did it rain, you would answer God caused it to rain, it is God’s will, it is God’s benevolence.

Are there miracles in your life then?  It depends if you have faith the size of a mustard seed because if you have the faith the size of a mustard seed then you would see things differently.  Miracles are divine interventions.  I believe that divine interventions are not sporadic and given at random to a selected few.  Divine interventions are every day, every moment occurrences and they occur to anyone and everyone.

Come to think of it, why are we not thankful?  Because we only think of divine interventions and miracles as supernatural.  Why are we not thankful?  Because we only think of every occurrence and every moment in terms of their remote and proximate causes.  Why are we not thankful?  Because we are a believer in miracles that happen sporadically and randomly to a selected few.

And how can we be thankful then?  When we believe that every waking and sleeping moment is a moment of grace. 

How can we be thankful?  When we see the giftedness of each moment whether good or bad.

How can we be thankful? When we change the way we see things and the way we perceive God’s ways to us.

How can we be thankful?  When we look to God and see not superman, not one big, almighty, super manipulator, not as problem solver nor crisis center, nor a clown who will keep us entertained and happy in this life.  We can only be thankful, we can only learn to be thankful, when we look at God, when we begin seeing God as a loving Father.