by Marie Tomas

Created on: May 18, 2007

Why are skeptics so fast to pooh pooh the paranormal? They readily accept the fact that we're walking around on a huge bluish ball suspended strategically in space, twirling around so fast that by all logical reasoning, everything and anything should fly off. And yet they stubbornly and flatly refuse to believe that the soul is eternal. Or that we even have one. It's intangible. Therefore, it doesn't exist, they reason. What about germs, which are everywhere? Or wind? Neither can be seen, yet we don't doubt their existence for a second. Not everything is as it appears. Like mirages. Or optical illusions. There are so many unanswerable questions in this life. Perhaps we're just not ready to know all the answers. Perhaps we never will. Which is probably why it's hard to believe in miracles. It's easier to be a skeptic. Black and white is a lot more simplistic.

According to the dictionary, a miracle is an event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature and so is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of God. It has been said that miracles are spontaneous; they cannot be summoned, but come of themselves. At one time, miracles were commonplace. The Bible is crammed with all kinds of miracles. Fishes and loaves. The resurrection. The blind seeing.
In Plato's "Republic," there's an account of a soldier who said he died and came back from the dead claiming he saw the gates of heaven and hell. This was written in the fourth century BC. Two thousand, four- hundred years ago. But today everything has to be explained. Behind every phenomenon, there has to be a logical reason. And yet according to polls, 95 percent of Americans say they believe in God, which can neither be proven or disproven.
Go figure.
It's funny, the skeptics accept so many miraculous things like the birth of a baby. (Can anything be more incredible?) A tiny reproduced human life. Or the universe. MY GOD! It's so awesome it's difficult to comprehend its magnitude. And what about love? That profound, wonderful emotion we often take for granted? It comes out of nowhere. Or does it? If we believe in God, we know that God is love. So maybe, just maybe, we're simply a little scoop of God. After all, we are molded in his image. That's pretty miraculous too, don't you think?
Admittedly, until recently, I was just as skeptical and slightly agnostic. I never truly believed that someone who passed away could affect the physical world. Spirituality in this stick and peel society is hard to come by. If you can't see it or touch it, it simply doesn't exist. They can't comprehend that within us, there's a divine spark, which outlives the physical existence and it's only a thin veneer away. They simply just don't get it.
St. Bernard described death as "the gate of life." A timeless, wonderful extension of our being.
"There are only two ways to look at your life," said Einstein. "Either everything is a miracle, or nothing is a miracle." I'll choose the first.

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