There are so many stories that go around everyday about these amazing miracles, from figures with wings carrying children back to their parents to pieces of chalk proving the existence of God. Most of these still remain unverified. And of course, we encounter real miracles in our own lives, an unexplained medical recovery, someone who survived an accident they never should have survived. I myself have witnessed a few of these and been the beneficiary of another. But these have a tendency to be few and far between.
God isn't about size. All sins are equal in his eyes. The first on earth will be the last and the last on earth will be the first in heaven. God has a plan, bigger than human imagining and even the tiniest thing is under his domain.
I was thinking today about all the blessings we miss in life. The ones that we don't even notice anymore, the ones we take for granted. I think it is likely I will get many people arguing with me on what the nature of a miracle is. Many believe that for something to be a miracle it has to be truly remarkable. The catholic church, in order for a miracle to be recognized, limits miracles to physically perceptible miracles (mostly healings but some include interventions by visual manifeststions of heavenly figures and of course other miracles are considered just less often) that are scientifically shown to have no explicable natural cause.
And it is true in our society that we, at least in spoken rhetoric, treat miracles lightly. I would guess that most people have heard someone shout "it's a miracle!" when finding their lost keys or the mate to a beloved shoe that had been missing a long time. I'm not saying that everything good that happens is a miracle either, although the fact that we are alive on this earth is in my mind a miracle of God.
But that said, one of the websites I consulted to confirm the catholic definition of miracle, catholiceducation.org, also mentioned that a miracle is a wonder showing he glory of God. There are many amazing little things that fit into this category, the miracle of birth, the stranger whose faith inspires them to show someone comfort, the teenage boy who gives up his seat on the bus to an older woman is even showing the glory of God. In my mind, acts of conscience, of mercy, these all show the glory of God, the wonder of the soul He gave us. I knew a friend who told a story of a really terrible day in her life (which I will not go into without permission) in which her faith was re-affirmed because the fact there was no traffic on the highway during rush hour inspired her to thank God for the little things. In that case, I would think clear traffic was a miracle.
I am not trying to devalue the word miracle. And I do believe God still does dramatic, physical miracles. I've even witnessed a very small handful. I just think that we need to appreciate every moment of this life as an act of God. Every infant born is a miracle, every life saved is at His hand. These are the things we all too often overlook. And they are also the things on which we should focus!
