One Miracle at a Time

When one does not believe in any god or similar form of spiritual otherness, it follows that one might struggle with miracles (walking on water, curing lepers, making zombies). It’s the word, not the wonderment. By one definition, a miracle is an “extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.” A synonym for manifest is obvious. That means it is easy to see some god or divine intelligence did it.

On the secular side, an alternate definition is “an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment.” That is how my wife uses it. That works for me. Synonyms for miracles include something that is amazing, a marvel, phenomenon, splendor, or wonder.

Unfortunately, too many people think atheists do no appreciate amazing things because we don’t think there is a god to do it. They think that without attribution to a deity or cosmic intelligence, we are unable to appreciate amazingly splendid marvels and awesome wonders. That is false conjecture. I know it is not true because I am an atheist. I appreciate many natural and real things, in my opinion, often more than spiritual people do. I find the god can do anything argument childishly boring.

When atheists claim such appreciation, many people insult us by saying we are not true atheists. Like they would know. Or they may confuse atheism with nihilism. That’s easy to do and quite common. I can’t fix it. But Google can. However, I’m not going there now.

Interestingly, some atheists claim an even higher awareness because without something like a god to attribute things to, we see wonders and splendors as even greater natural events. That includes our own human ability to know (science) and to appreciate intangible things like art and music, or love and friendship. Be it the universe or a single human cell, amazing things are exactly that.

While I attribute neither the Universe (or Cosmos) nor humanity’s existence to the sudden whim of any intelligence or some god, I am fascinated by earthly nature, the heavens, and biology. In the secular sense, it’s miraculous. Evolution is incredible and ruthless, but so amazing.

Science, not religion, must be given center stage in any study or discussion of either life or the cosmos. In fact, science itself provides the knowledge that makes what little we know and understand more appreciative of awesomeness. With deference to Poe, thank you Science.

We can speculate about life existing on some planet other than on Earth. But we don’t know. Regarding all things, we can develop hypotheses and theories about what happened and when. But we seldom know. Yet, there is one huge miracle I have in my mind that flies above all others. The odds against it are enormous.

It’s what Bill Bryson calls the “supremely agreeable condition known as life.” We are, as he goes on to claim, “in the most literal sense cosmic.” I agree with him. Not only is all life tied together, but it also seems the entire Universe is one big (bang) bag of marvels.

But honestly, I once believed or accepted the idea that one god created it all. The fact that I can no longer attribute things to theological answers makes none of it less amazing. If my view is different now, things are even more awesome for me. I now pay much more attention to it all.

That life happened beats tremendous odds. For me, the very fact that no creator or intelligence did it (nod to those who believe otherwise) makes it more amazing, not less.

Bill

Poetry: Reality Pray

objecting to your prayers feels like
I am rejecting your love,
your caring, your helping me
get past a difficult time. I am grateful
for you and that you care and that you love
or care about me.

yet, if you really care
look at me—touch me,
talk to me. a hug is okay.

but please. must I accept that you will
shoot a quick message to your almighty
who will then correct or change the cold facts
I now face? please stop denying reality
and pretending your prayers
make a difference or change anything.
they do not!

the only miracles are those events
science, money and power create.
thanks anyway.

with love and appreciation,
bill

A to Z Challenge: Magick Marfa Miracles (M)

Magick – is not the same as magic, which is usually the art of conjuring and legerdemain (sleight of hand). Richard Dawkins has another definition in The Reality of Magic, with which I agree. But magick contends to cause physical changes by nonphysical means. It’s associated with paranormal and the occult (astral projection, chakras, ESP, and psychic healing).

Some religious associate this with Satan and call it black magic. To the same folk, if associated with a god, it is white magick or miracles. I consider it appealing in some ways, interesting in others, but mumbo-jumbo in any case. I do like to explain things which I cannot logically explain with the exclamation of pure fucking magic (PFM). These are not bad words, and outside of religion they can be fun and entertaining, for example the Magic Kingdom Theme Park at Disney, or Magic titled songs by ONJ and groups like Pilot, America, Queen, and others. I even wrote a sonnet to magic (read here).

Marfa lights – are included because I have been there at night and looked for them. I did not see them, but I believe that there are lights. About ten miles east of Marfa, Texas, is a viewing area. The Marfa lights, something of an unwanted art culture, and Peter Reading’s book Marfan (also his one-year of residence there) are what the town of about 2,500 is known for. The lights are not caused by ghosts, swamp gas, radioactive bursts, ball lightning, or navigational lights of alien space ships. They are car lights from U.S. Highway 67 in the Chianti Mountains, which is why I did not see them – no cars when I was looking.

Miracle – is a word I try not to use (except in sarcasm). Others use it often without considering the meaning. It has become trite, especially in song. The meaning of miracle is seldom considered. Miracles are supernatural events caused by a god of some sort by defying the laws of nature.

Weather phenomena are not miracles, nor are they punishment for humans being kind to each other regardless of color or sexual preference. Jesus’s face on toast is just toast. Toilet water dripping from a statue is piss water, no matter who drinks it.

Generally, these miraculous events are considered good. Equally amazing but also BS phenomena are things sometimes attributed to the occult. Interesting and weird stuff happens all the time. If you can see it, it’s not supernatural (or you couldn’t). America beating Russia in ice hockey was awesome, but it was not a miracle. It was great hockey.