Hold on tight!

So I was wondering what happened to those times when God parted the sea for Moses, when dreams instructed you on what to do, and things happened with one prayer? When God actually did respond, by speech or otherwise?

Now, communities pray together for relief but the world seems to be just getting worse everyday. Natural disasters, political agendas that lead to war, morally bankrupt societies, and really, really nasty people being admired.  It does seem like God has left us to ourselves, does it not?

That seems to be a very tempting explanation to accept, for it absolves us of any responsibility to try to be good, and to work according to our own nobler beliefs. Yes, if God does not care, why should we? 

It reminds me of a poem we had in school about God responding to man's complaint on why He seems so unresponsive and distant. God replies that the connection was cut by man himself, and He has always been waiting. I wish I remembered the poem. I knew even then that this would be an important lesson in my life. I believe that it is humanity that has lost the grip of God's rope, but it is still here, dangling right in front of our eyes (so to speak). We see miracles everyday. All we need to do is be cognizant of what we see and hear. Have you noticed how you hear from a friend just when you need something to ease your mind? Or how many times you narrowly miss hitting a car, or that kitchen knife that drops a few inches from your toe? The confluence of finding the perfect home and the resources to buy it? Good luck alone? I think not. 

We hear of a child being found 10 years after the Indonesian tsunami, we see a black man becoming a President in an inherently racist country, we see a neighbor walking her dog just when we need someone to administer the Heimlich maneuver. We see daily miracles everyday. But we have become blind to God's touch in our lives. I remember the first time I felt the direct connection with divine help. My daughter broke her finger and we went to this doctor who was professional enough to admit that it was too complicated for him,and put us on to the best hand specialist there is. He was close by, and had an open appointment! Her finger today is perfect. Sounds regular and routine? My friend's son went through exactly the same break . Same bone, same finger, same hand, but because of a different game. It took two years of treatments and he still has problems with his hand. So just serendipity? Nope.

My husband had almost decided to move to India. He was in India to sign his acceptance, when he changed tracks and opted to take up an offer in Seattle instead. We packed up and moved across the country, instead of across the globe. His cancer was detected within a year of moving. We had access to one the best cancer care centers of the world here. And finally, to the best hospice care. Not to mention the company he worked for out turned out to be more supportive than family! Through the pain and the fears, the blessings came too, fast and furious - every time we needed them, exactly what we needed. There is definitely a 'God's plan', unchangeable, irreversible, unimpeachable, even if we can never understand it. And if the plan entails that He gives you a terrible time, he gives you the wherewithal to deal with it.

Outside ourselves there is so much we can try to explain away - coincidence, good planning, no-other-option scenarios - but the things we take for granted within us are nothing short of inexplicably wondrous. There is so much in our own bodies that we do not control - breathing is involuntary, the heartbeat is involuntary, and the brain is still a mystery to neuroscience. So waking up every morning with your senses intact is a miracle in itself. It took me a while to understand this. Of course I knew the science behind it. But even knowing how it all works does not explain why it works. And that is precisely why cloning or stem-cell research does not bother me at all, and should not worry anyone with a belief in a higher power. Man can put together the cells, organs probably, and maybe even limbs but it will not be a person. Life is not structural. It is not even biochemical. It is... well, miraculous. And that is beyond the purview of man's capabilities. I will be delighted if we can just put together a clump of cells specialized enough to use to heal ourselves. 

But all that is physical, which is the most banal, most inconsequential aspect of humanity. Our emotions, our feelings, our spirit is what defines us. If we learn to accept that real self in us and others, we see more miracles than the unlikely cures and NDEs. We hear of people happy in terrible circumstances, we see a prisoner with an 'unconquerable soul' having no bitterness towards his oppressors, we understand why we immediately feel better in good company, we experience how laughter does actually heal the soul. We realize how hanging onto a hope actually makes what we hope for happen. And I am not talking of some vague abstract thoughts put across by a guru. These are events that have actually occurred. These happen everyday, everywhere. I know of them in my life, and see them in others'. You need to open your eyes to see it in yours too. Open your mind and heart, and hold on tight.

Hold on to that rope that is always just a grasp away. Just hanging on to His rope is enough. It will take us through lessons and trials, though joys and delights. It will carry us through the darkness to where he wants us to be. And that is not going to be a bad place.