I Love this Stuff
This speaks to me on a lot of levels.
Part of me wants to laugh out loud - a stain (most likely caused by road salt) on the underpass just happens to look like the Virgin Mary - Give me a break! It's the stuff of the tabloids. Yet - I'm fascinated by the people who show up - usually crowds of them.
I used to have this conversation/argument with my father when I was younger. A little background: Lutheranism is the "business". My grandfather and three uncles were/are Lutheran pastors. I dutifully attended church and Sunday School where I learned about the miracles performed by Jesus - water into wine; raising the dead; causing the blind to see; walking on water. But when it came to modern day "miracles" the church was silent. I suspect most people just laughed them off. But if you believe in the "old miracles", why not the "new ones"? When did Jesus/God/the Church stop performing miracles?
As a young man, it was one of the many things that caused me to think that the believers don't really believe. The miracle stories were probably just "propaganda" put forth by the early Christians in a hotly competitive religious environment where all faiths had their miracles, and promises of more miracles. On one level I believe that's true. In order to develop their faith early Christians adopted concepts, legends, miracle stories, from other faiths - and even later the "Christmas Tree" was famously borrowed from Pagans. But on another level, maybe there's something to it. The "believers" sure turn out for these sightings. They really "want to" believe it's the Virgin Mary. Any harm there?
What comes first, the faith or the belief. Most of what you are asked to "believe" is unbelievable, so you gotta have faith.
CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- A steady stream of the faithful and the curious, many carrying flowers and candles, have flocked to an expressway underpass for a view of a yellow and white stain on a concrete wall that some believe is an image of the Virgin Mary.
Part of me wants to laugh out loud - a stain (most likely caused by road salt) on the underpass just happens to look like the Virgin Mary - Give me a break! It's the stuff of the tabloids. Yet - I'm fascinated by the people who show up - usually crowds of them.
I used to have this conversation/argument with my father when I was younger. A little background: Lutheranism is the "business". My grandfather and three uncles were/are Lutheran pastors. I dutifully attended church and Sunday School where I learned about the miracles performed by Jesus - water into wine; raising the dead; causing the blind to see; walking on water. But when it came to modern day "miracles" the church was silent. I suspect most people just laughed them off. But if you believe in the "old miracles", why not the "new ones"? When did Jesus/God/the Church stop performing miracles?
As a young man, it was one of the many things that caused me to think that the believers don't really believe. The miracle stories were probably just "propaganda" put forth by the early Christians in a hotly competitive religious environment where all faiths had their miracles, and promises of more miracles. On one level I believe that's true. In order to develop their faith early Christians adopted concepts, legends, miracle stories, from other faiths - and even later the "Christmas Tree" was famously borrowed from Pagans. But on another level, maybe there's something to it. The "believers" sure turn out for these sightings. They really "want to" believe it's the Virgin Mary. Any harm there?
What comes first, the faith or the belief. Most of what you are asked to "believe" is unbelievable, so you gotta have faith.
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