God Squad: Questions that follow a miracle

I often receive questions about miracles but rarely answer them. This isn't because I don't believe in miracles, because I do, but rather because there are some things from God that don't lend themselves to easy, facile explanations. Some gifts from God need to be accepted in awesome silence and gratitude.

Also, some things we consider miracles are, in the words of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, "just the report of natural events by enthusiastic participants." However, a dear friend and a member of my congregation was recently the recipient of an unambiguous miracle.

Henry was dying of an aggressive brain tumor. He was at home in the care of hospice angels, family and friends. He was off all his meds and ready to pass. Suddenly, his latest MRI came back with the stunning news that the tumor had simply vanished. Doctors had no explanation about how or why this miracle (their word) had occurred.

I will share with you some of my thoughts on miracles that I shared with my congregation, and would love to hear about any miracles with which God has blessed you or those you love.

"We read in Exodus 23:25 'And I will take away the sickness from within you.' I don't know if God was referring to Henry, but this week I think so. I don't say this often or lightly, but we have witnessed a miracle in our midst. There are so many questions about miracles that follow our joy. The responses to these questions, like the miracles themselves, come from God. They are responses, not answers, because these are unanswerable questions. They are mysteries, not problems.

The most spiritually unworthy question about miracles, the question of the cynics and of those of uncertain faith is: "Why was Henry chosen to receive a miracle this week and not all the millions of others still walking through the valley of the shadow of death? I received the following e-mail this week: "Rabbi Gellman: Would you be able to say a prayer for Claire? Claire is the 12-week-old niece of a friend of ours who is suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and needs our prayers. " Why Henry and not Claire? The response to this question is first off to pray for Claire. We pray that God might have a spare miracle for her.

Our next task is to simply pause and realize that if every prayer were answered, nothing would be a miracle. A miracle is an expected intrusion into Natural Law, or an unexpected gift during a time of desperate waiting. If our every prayer for life canceled the arrival of the Angel of Death, then death, our inescapable destiny, would never come. Those we love would never die. Those who are ill would never languish. Every day would be sunny. Natural Law would no longer be law, and we would live forever.

The consequence of this understandable but childlike fantasy would be that no children would ever be born to replace us, no medicines ever be invented to heal us, and we would never need to develop courage to face life's trials and tribulations.

Miracles need to be rare, or their power would evaporate into our unlimited spiritual neediness. The rabbis taught, "do not rely on miracles." We must work to support the work of science as if there is no God, and we must trust in God as if there is no science.

German theologian Meister Eckhart (1260-1327) wrote: "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough." Therefore, the spiritually mature response to miracles is not "Why not others?" but simply, "Thank you." Thank you leads to a faith based on trust. Why not others? leads to a faith constantly hobbled by spiritually debilitating petitions.

Trust is not exactly belief though it is in part based on belief. Trust is hope, and hope does not arise from believing something or other about God. Hope comes from trusting that God is with us in every circumstance of our life and our death and our life that begins after death.

How can we achieve a faith based upon trust? I can't say for sure, but for now, it may be enough to say that miracles come to those who wait upon the Lord in patience, courage and trust. Why they don't come to all who wait is not only an unanswerable question but the wrong one because it implies that the miracles we can see are somehow not enough.

The philosopher of religion, Mircea Eliade, called the phenomena that confirm the reality of God, hierophanies. Henry is for me this week's heirophany. I often speak with people who have lost or have never discovered faith, and they often say to me that if I could show them a miracle, they would believe. Now, all I have to do is give them Henry's phone number.