Sometimes God comes along and gives us a real jolt. And once in a while those "jolts" come in the form of experiences that could only be explained as . . . well, as inexplicable. When this occurs we are left to ponder, what has happened here? What's going on? In Friendship with God there is an extraordinary statement. "I have given you nothing but miracles."

The message here is that we can expect miracles every day of our lives. But, as with noticing the sudden alighting of a butterfly, we must be aware that they are occurring. Otherwise, we will look right past them.

Unless we don't. Because we can't. Sometimes it's impossible to ignore them.

Healing Miracles

I would like to talk for a very brief moment about some of the reasons that healing miracles may be necessary in the first place.

We are not taking good enough care of ourselves.

Conversations with God, Book 1 makes this observation: All illness is self-created. Even conventional medical doctors are now seeing how people make themselves sick.

Most people do so quite unconsciously. So when they get sick, they don't know what hit them. It feels as though something has befallen them, rather than that they did something to themselves.

This occurs because most people move through life -- not simply health issues and consequences -- unconsciously.

• People smoke and wonder why they get cancer.
• People ingest animals and fat and wonder why they get blocked arteries.
• People stay angry all their lives and wonder why they get heart attacks.
• People compete with other people -- mercilessly and under incredible stress -- and wonder why they have strokes.
• The not-so-obvious truth is that most people worry themselves to death.

Health is a Decision: To Be or Not To Be Healthy

And, five books and five years later, in Communion with God, we find the following commentary:

Health is an announcement of agreement between your body, mind, and spirit. When you are not healthy, look to see which parts of you disagree. Perhaps it is time for you to rest your body, but your mind does not know how. Perhaps your mind is dwelling on negative, angry thoughts, or worries about tomorrow, and your body cannot relax.

Your body will demonstrate the truth to you. Simply watch it. Notice what it is showing you; listen to what it is saying.

If we listen to our bodies, and treat them well, we will get a great deal more use out of them. The miracle that we can expect every day will be the miracle that we perform.

So now, let's talk about miracles.

A Course in Miracles says that with miracles there are no degrees of difficulty. This is because, for God, nothing is difficult. All things are possible, and not merely possible, but easy.

Big Miracles and Small Miracles

Yet while there are no degrees of difficulty, there are different kinds and sizes. There are big miracles and small miracles. There are quick miracles and miracles that take more time. There are miracles that can be easily explained and miracles that cannot.

Not all miracles look like healings. One person was healed, but that should not make other people wonder why their loved one didn't get a "miracle" but died. Even a person dying can be a miracle, though it may not be what we might want the miracle to look like.

My definition of a miracle is "just exactly the right thing, in just exactly the right way, at just exactly the right time."

When I Pray For A Miracle...

Whenever I pray for a miracle, for myself or for another, I have found it very strengthening and very comforting to "let God decide" what the miracle will look like. I use these words: "This is what I would like, God, but only if this is for the highest and best good of all concerned. Please, God, do what is for the highest and best good. Of everyone. I know you will. Amen."

I have used this prayer for twenty-five years, and it has been so comforting. It is my version of "let go and let God." I have said before that the more we realize miracles are happening every day in our own lives, the more miracles we will experience occurring. Yet many miracles go ignored, unrecognized for what they are, because they are not considered by us to be "miraculous."

Frequently it is not what has occurred that is miraculous but the timing of what occurred. The event may be easily explained, but the fact that it happened when it happened is what made it unusual. And so, we may not call this a miracle, but rather, synchronicity.

Often what is miraculous is not what or when something has happened, but how. A series of totally explainable events may come together in a particular, almost quixotic, way to produce a highly improbable result. We may not call this a miracle, but rather, serendipity.

Sometimes the event that is occurring in our lives is totally explainable, and neither its timing, nor even the way it is happening, is unusual. Yet the fact that it is happening at all, and to us, is overwhelming. Still, we may not even call this a miracle, but rather, luck.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Many human beings will give every name they can think of to God's miracles except "God's miracle," because they either don't believe in God, or don't believe in miracles -- or don't believe that miracles can happen to them. And if you don't believe something, you will not see it for what it really is. Because believing is seeing. It is not the other way around.

It is for just this reason that you may not see yourself as Who You Really Are. You do not even know your Self to be a miracle. Yet that is what you are. A miracle in the making. For you are not nearly finished with yourself yet, and God is never finished with you.

This is what Fred Ruth learned during the weeks when he thought that he was going to die. God had different plans for Fred, and He tried everything to wake Fred up. He even had Anne bring Fred books and talk to him about spiritual matters. But Fred just wasn't listening. So God said, "Okaaay ... let's see what we can do to get Fred's attention here......"

Wake-Up Call from the Universe

Many of us have had these kinds of wake-up calls from the universe. But, as mentioned, we'll label them anything and everything else we can think of.

Psychological aberrations. Paranormal experiences. Flights of our imagination. Whatever. Yet they are miracles nonetheless.

But do these kinds of things really occur? Do people actually see balls of light in front of them, or feel energy beams running through them, or hear gentle voices speaking great truths? Do people truly experience spontaneous healings, or suddenly feel a total Oneness with the universe, or actually have conversations with God?

Uh, yes.

This article is excerpted from:

Moments of Grace
by Neale Donald Walsch.

Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Hampton Roads. ©2001. http://www.hrpub.com.

Info/Order this book.

About the Author

Neale Donald Walsch is the author of Conversations with God, Books 1, 2, and 3, Conversation with God for Teens, Friendship with God, and Communion with God, all of which have been New York Times bestsellers. The books have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have sold in the multi-millions of copies. He has written ten other books on related topics. Neale presents lectures and hosts spiritual retreats around the world to support and spread the messages contained in his books.

Click here for more articles by Neale Donald Walsch

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