Where Do I Find the Miracles?

That was the question from a friend of mine. He’s the father of a six year old boy, husband of an oncology nurse recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He, like millions of us, is seeking the miracle of a cure for cancer.

We’re a demanding bunch, we humans. We can never have enough of a good thing, even miracles. Where do you find the miracles?

There may be trillions of planets orbiting hundreds of billions of stars in this universe (and there may be billions of other universes, for all we know). All things considered, our planet is pretty hospitable to life, in spite of everything we’ve done to it. Our sun is not too hot, not too cold, and keeps us comfortable.

The United States has managed to survive, and thrive, over the past 200+ years. In spite of a civil war, and a host of wars involving foreign nations, our nation still plugs along. Other than the War of 1812, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the attacks during 9/11, we haven’t been invaded by a foreign army.

We’re one of the richest nations on Earth, consuming resources far above and beyond other nations our size. Despite its many failings, we have one of the best health care systems on the planet. People the world over come here for care.

We are a nation of much poverty and much wealth, where millions go to bed hungry at night, millions are also over weight. In some ways, we are cursed by our prosperity. We have enough money to buy more than enough food produced, and often cooked by, others. We have enough spare income to buy tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. Since we don’t need to farm, gather or hunt our food, we live a sedentary life, with all the chronic diseases and ailments that come with it.

If you can read this, you’ve been educated enough to be literate. You are wealthy enough to own some kind of computer and have some kind of internet service. Considering how many of the six billion plus people on this planet don’t have clean water to drink, sturdy housing to surround themselves or a steady supply of food, you’re probably in that much maligned “1%” of the wealthiest of the human beings on the planet.

You are mentally healthy enough, and have the cognitive ability, to turn on your computer, navigate through the internet and read (and hopefully comprehend) this blog. You are probably physically healthy enough to walk around your house, sit down in front of your computer and use a keyboard and mouse. Hopefully, you can do a lot more than that.

Many of us are blessed with loving relationships, with loving children, parents and siblings. Many of us have more than sufficient housing, in nice neighborhoods. Many of us are employed and able to support our families. As much as we may gripe about our jobs, bosses and co-workers, those of us who are employed, are employed.

How many more #^&*(!+ing miracles do we want? Miracles surround us. We swim through them every day. But we only want what we don’t have, a cure for cancer. Though miracles flow around us, they are finite and not at our beck and call. We can’t summon them like a witch before her bubbling cauldron. But just like cancer, miracles do happen, people are cured, even those in the most desperate situations. So we pray, scheme, research, hope, because despite all the miracles that flow around and through us, we just want one more.