On Expecting Miracles to Occur Regularly

“The very purpose for which the world was created, and man introduced to live upon it, requires that the laws of nature operate in cold disregard for human feelings. We must work out our salvation without expecting the laws of nature to be exempted for us. Natural law is, on rare occasions, suspended in a miracle. But mostly…like the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, (we) wait endlessly for the moving of the water.” 

- Elder Boyd K. Packer, “The Moving of the Water”

All Types of Lives and Experiences Are Legitimate and Valuable

I have had a handful of experiences in my life that I believe were truly miraculous and that testified to me of the existence of God.  I have mentioned that a number of times online, and I have been asked more than once to share those experiences.  Occasionally, in the right setting, I have shared one or more, but, generally, I have respectfully declined to do so.  

I have absolutely no desire to share my experiences in order to be dissected and analyzed to see if they can be proven to be objective miracles - especially by someone who is coming into the conversation strongly convinced that they aren't. I know what I have experienced, and I have examined those experiences as analytically as I can and can find no way to explain them logically (without factoring in the possibility of the miraculous, which is not traditionally logical).  However, I also am dead certain that many people wouldn't accept them as incontrovertibly miraculous, including many people whom I count as good friends.

If someone doesn't believe in unexplainable power of some sort that can be accessed by humans, particularly if he has never experienced anything of that nature, I am fine with that. I really am. As I've said here numerous times, at the most fundamental level, we only can "know" (to any degree) what we have studied, witnessed and/or experienced personally - and, even then, we can't know some of it objectively. We certainly can't explain to others adequately enough for them to believe if they can't see what we've seen. I also am fine with that. I'm not looking for unanimity of experience or belief here or anywhere else online where I comment; I are participating in communities of diverse people from whom I can learn - particularly in ways that are not natural (that are "foreign") to me. I'm looking for unique perspectives I would not be able to see naturally. 

I have shared the example of Laman and Lemuel and why I think they get a bit of a bum rap in the Book of Mormon. The example that related to this post is when Nephi asked if they had inquired of the Lord to see what Lehi saw - and they responded that the Lord didn't make those things known to them. If Nephi (and Lehi) had been open to that as a factual, honest, acceptable answer, we might have a different narrative than we have - if they had understood that some people simply don't have visions or hear voices or feel soul-burning impressions. Those who have those experiences tend to discount or reject the idea that others don't or can't have them, while those who don't or can't have them tend to discount or reject the experiences of those who do have them.

I'd rather be open to both types of lives and "experience-orientations" as legitimate and valuable - as well as all points between those extremes.

Participating in the Mundane Enough to Experience the Miraculous

Two years ago, the Sunday School manual focused on the teachings of Pres. Lorenzo Snow.  In one of the lessons, an experience was shared about Pres. Snow raising a child from the dead.  In a subsequent conversation about that story,  someone asked what our expectations of our leaders and ourselves ought to be with regard to the miraculous.

I have participated in hundreds of blessings over the course of my years in the Church. Most have been nice but forgettable; a few have been somewhat revelatory; a handful have been . . . powerfully connective to the divine.

My expectation of leaders and myself boils down to a willingness to put ourselves in enough situations where the revelatory and powerfully connective might happen, even though my experiences teach me that most of the time it will be nice but forgettable - that we will be there when God needs to reach down in a miraculous fashion and, figuratively, show us his hand.

My takeaway from the lesson is that Pres. Snow did that – participated enough in the mundane that he was there for the miraculous.

Is Sign-Seeking an Indication of Adulterous Behavior?

This is a bit tricky, since we ask people all the time to pray and ask God about what we teach - in essence, inviting them to seek for a sign from God about what they should do.  Therefore, sign-seeking as a negative action has to mean something other than a simple, generic request for evidence.  

When you look at the way the statement is worded ("An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign."), it appears to me that when "sign seeking" (an attitude that nothing at all will be believed or accepted or followed unless visible proof is available) is so strong among an entire "generation" of covenant people that it is impossible for that "people" to have faith in anything because they actively are "seeking" miraculous signs, that "people" has rejected its "covenant marriage" to the God they say they worship and, thus, in Biblical terms, is "adulterous" in that relationship to God.

The usage of adultery as a metaphor for Israel's actions toward God is nearly omni-present in the Bible - and that's how I read the statement about an evil and adulterous generation seeking a sign.

Don't get me wrong: I do think a need for proof in all things is negative and confining / binding, since it is the antithesis of faith.  I just don't think every individual who asks for a sign - even a miraculous one, automatically can be classified as an adulterer in the literal, physical sense of the word.

The Danger of Seeking for Miracles

I have come to believe strongly that those who simply MUST have miracles to believe will find them - but that what they find might or might not be of God, and what they find might or might not be good for them even if from God.

I have experienced the truly miraculous a handful of times, and at least one of the times I was exposed to the miraculous was a horrible experience with someone whom I believe truly had connected into an evil that I simply can't describe adequately - nor do I want to do so. Even typing about it brings back memories I don't want in my mind. However, I also have known good people who have experienced the miraculous and then obsessed over it to the point that they became miracle junkies - desperate for the next fix and convinced that their experiences made them special in some way, causing all kinds of damage to themselves and their families and acquaintances.

Finally, I think we tend to interpret the statement about an evil and adulterous generation seeking after a sign too narrowly. "Adulterous" is most commonly aligned with sexual sin, but one of the definitions of "adulterous" is "illicit" - and that word means "not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful; disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons". In this light, and the overall context of the original statement itself, it is clear to me that the description is one of someone who "cheats on" God - who is UNFAITHFUL to the covenant he made with God.

The core of that covenant is faith, which, at its center, means an allowance that there are some things that are unknowable - that "signs" (proof) are not required for belief and discipleship. Demanding signs and miracles, therefore, is a direct repudiation of faith - since it takes the decision of when and how to present the miraculous to individuals out of God's hands and demands this be done according to the desires of the mortals who are unwilling to wait (to "be still, and know that I am God"). Again, I believe in the miraculous, and I have experienced undeniable miracles a few times in my life, but none of them have come through me seeking them. 

Sometimes, stillness is essential - and seeking for signs makes stillness and patient, humble reliance and faith impossible.