Miracle or Coincidence?

Albert Einstein wrote, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I believe in miracles. I also believe we can create them by our thoughts. We’ve all experienced those “coincidences” when someone we have just been thinking of calls us, or we "bump" into the person we really needed to talk with; or we find the right thing at exactly the right time, or we miss a mishap by seconds. If you really want to experience a miracle…I say ask for it! Pray for it and truly believe you will receive it. Although most of the miracles involve subjective experiences, many are substantiated with physical, objective proof. Western science has not endorsed the miraculous as scientific fact. However, there are lines of thought in contemporary psychology, physics, neurophysiology and biology that suggest a strong connection between miraculous phenomena and human transpersonal growth. To me, miracles and positive thinking go hand in hand. I believe that miracles can happen when we open our hearts to possibilities. I have always prayed for the safety of family and friends; and I can tell you from personal experience that prayer, positive thinking, visualization and miracles are connected. I’d like to share three brief personal stories that occurred within the same time period that I would classify as miracles. The first occurred at the summer home of my first husband’s parents. I was swinging on a swing set with my then three-year-old daughter, Laura, in my arms. We were on a wooden swing that was supported by large beams. At one point I looked up and saw the cross beam above us start to give way. I attempted to jump out of the seat as the beam came crashing down. I managed to protect Laura, who only received a swollen lip from the impact. I, however, received a gash on my forehead. We came within inches of being seriously injured. A protective hand maneuvered us out of harm’s way that afternoon. A second near-death incident occurred on the highway shortly after the swing mishap. My car veered off the road and headed toward a steep embankment. I turned the steering wheel abruptly, hit the brakes and did a 180 degree turn; coming to rest on the other side of the road. My young daughter, unhurt and undisturbed, was quietly sleeping in the back seat. She was oblivious to what had just happened. The third miracle occurred when I was driving alone. A trailer truck had just passed me and large sheets of ice hurled off the truck onto my windshield, shattering the glass on the driver’s side. As I slid to a stop in the median, I looked down at my hands, arms and chest. Glass and ice covered my upper body, but my hands and face were miraculously untouched. In all three of these cases the sequence of events happened so fast that I honestly believe I couldn’t have gotten out of the difficulty under my own power. I believe that in each case there was a message for me. My life needed some course corrections and I considered these warnings to take action. Take some time and reflect on the following for miracles in your life:

• Coincidences that to you are more than chances or luck.
• Events that have no logical explanation.
• An incident or a series of events that have pointed the way for major changes in your life.