I Believe In Miracles

I've left behind, forever behind, the old paradigm of pitiful humans pleading, cajoling, attempting to bargain with an old all-powerful (but apparently fickle) "man in the sky." I'm being a bit unkind there, for that isn't the way traditional religious believers think of it. It is however how I came to think about it. I didn't start with the traditional view. As a child I was an animist. Of course I soon absorbed the religious ideas of my parents (traditional theism). Now as an old guy I'm coming around again to my earlier view, but hopefully with more insight.

Oh, I still think about a higher power - okay, call it God, if you will. Use the metaphor of an old gray haired and bearded man as a metaphor if you must. But as an idealist, I think of a Supreme Mind. And I think of the Cosmos as being crackling alive and imbued with a kind of intelligence in all its aspects.

I believe there is a way of the Cosmos with which we should attune ourselves. Maybe something like Taoism's Way or Path.

About three years ago a path out of a serious problem I had been having was presented to me. With much fear I pursued that path to the resolution of my problem. I prayed about it, or as I also think of it: I communicated with the Supreme Mind of the Cosmos. This event led me to a complete re-examination of my worldview and re-evaluation of my ideas about religion and spirituality. My journey continues.

A friend read mine read my last post and told me I had left her wanting more. What does it mean for miracles to be in the eyes of the beholders?

For me it is the difference between the spiritual and the materialist worldviews. Either one is convinced that the Cosmos is a pure accident with no intrinsic meaning, or it is not an accident and instead is purposeful.

Okay, we can look at events and say either "hey, this means something"; or we can dismiss sign posts as coincidences. Now I'm speaking as a spiritually-minded person and not a materialist.

There seems to me no need to spend too much time arguing about the matter. Where we end up depends entirely on where we start. If you believe blind coincidence can give us this wondrous Cosmos, okay. If you are like me and find some "coincidences" to be just too coincidental, then you'll open your mind to the possibility that as Sir James Jeans put it, the "universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine."

We have to look at all this from the inside out. I believe in an inner voice. Listen or overrule it. The choice is yours.

It seems to me that children start out with an enchanted view of the Cosmos. That is either nourished and tweaked by one of the various religious traditions. Or the enchantment gets educated right out of that child over time. We tend to see what we look for. Look for the divine and you will find overwhelming evidence for it. Dismiss the divine and you will find ample reason to continue dismissing it.

As the poet Keat wrote in his Lamia:

Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings.
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine--
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade.

I see direction. I find meaning. I believe in miracles in the sense that things can fall into place in unusual ways. But if you don't believe you won't see. Or to quote the late Wayne Dyer: "I'm realistic; I expect miracles."

Miracles In The Eye Of The Beholder

I have long suspected that when the majority of us speak of miracles we are talking not so much about events that violate the known laws of nature as events that have special meaning, either because of the timing or unlikeliness of said events.

A case in point is this item from Father Dwight Longenecker that has had me thinking lately.  I urge you to click that link to see the picture and read the story.

The skeptic would say "so what?" But the people who were there and witnessed this event in person have obviously found deep meaning in it.

I don't think it wise to waste time arguing with the skeptic.The natural minded person is just bound to see things differently from the spiritually-minded person - and I think that's fine. It's a difference of perspective. Live and let live.

For the spiritually-minded person the Cosmos is a miracle of sorts, pointing directly to an intelligence behind it. Therefore we think there is meaning and significance to be found in all this. For that reason the concept of miracles - or unusual meaningful events - make perfect sense to us, even if it is only in the eyes of the beholders.

Country Legend Predicts Death On His Birthday

I am fascinated by the concept of premonitions, especially those folks who have premonitions of their own deaths. There is quite a bit of evidence of this, and this week provided another example.

According to a Facebook post of Ben Haggard's, son of country music legend Merle Haggard, his father informed his family a week beforehand that he would die on his birthday. He surely did.

Haggard had been in declining health, especially since late last year, so he no doubt knew the end was drawing nigh. Still, it was a bit eerie that he was able to accurately predict the day of his demise.

It jibes with my personal persuasion that there is a field of knowledge that may be tapped into.

People sometimes can find themselves aware of things they shouldn't be able to know.  I mean, how should one be able to exactly predict the day of their death beforehand? Not saying a lucky guess would be impossible, but I've cataloged enough examples to satisfy myself that this type of thing is possible.

Many, many more examples could be presented of people predicting their deaths would occur within a certain time frame.

Is something going on in the Cosmos? I think so.

Interesting Article About Luck

Rationalists don't believe in luck, at least as the common person thinks of it. Guess I'm gonna go with the irrationalists. Lucky streaks, unlucky streaks ... is there some principle at work in the Cosmos?

My personal philosophy is this: embedded in the warp and woof of the Cosmos are strands of potentiality. I believe we can follow threads to fortunate or unfortunate ends. Also, I make room for the Cosmic Trickster:
 a force that can play havoc with the best laid plans of mice and men, as they say.

Be that as it may, I was happy to read Kate Rockwood's article How To Get Lucky, which was featured in the February 2016 issue of Reader's Digest. The Digest is always on my bedside table.

For those of you who aren't subscribers, you are in luck (ha, ha). Rockwood's article is online and may be read by clicking this link.

In four simple points Rockwood sums up the lucky lifestyle nicely, I believe:

1.) Expect Good Things

This "tilts the scales of serendipity in their favor," she says. If you're thinking "hey, that sounds like the Secret", please don't get turned off yet. I do believe that to a very large extent we are our thoughts. The power of the self-fulfilling prophecy is very real.

2.) Court Chance

Her explication of that point left me a little flat, but I do agree: "The goal is to stay open to possibilities. Or as the old saw goes, "nothing venture, nothing gained."

3.) Look For Silver Linings.

Good advice to be found in these paragraphs. I've never known a lucky "Negative Nellie" or "Pitiful Pearl." The most successful people I have known are those who just keep making lemonade when they are presented with lemons. It seems in my own life that the more I remain positive the more I am rewarded with positive outcomes. It works for me and I recommend this approach to others.

4.) Trust Your Gut

Perhaps this point interested me most. Starting perhaps three years ago I made a determined effort to try to trust my gut more and follow my intuitions better. This has paid great benefits to me (but please bear in my mind when I write this that material wealth is not part of the "good life" in my personal spiritual philosophy.)

How seriously do I take the concept of luck? I can't think about it apart from a conviction that there are principles that can be followed to tap into the good or ignored to the bad.

I understand those who don't want to get all metaphysical about it. That's okay. Rockwood's article isn't so-called woo. But I do like to think about the metaphysical. I tend to want to explore areas outside the box.