A week ago, a ferry sank into the ocean off of South Korea and more than three hundred people died or are still missing. People wished and prayed for a miracle to save some passengers in the ship. The majority of the victims were the teenagers, high school students who were on an outdoor school trip. This tragic accident has become worldwide breaking news. So far no miracle has happened to rescue any survivor from the ferry. Rather many criticisms about the negligence regarding safety regulations on the ferry and the irresponsibility of the crew members have now become issues.
We have become used to seeing unexpected and miraculous things occurring among many natural disasters and tragic accidents around us and worldwide. All thirty-three miners were safely rescued from the collapse of the mine after sixty-nine days in Chile in 2010. A lady survived from an air-plane crash by being sprung out from her seat when the flight crashed on the ground. I was rescued from being drawn into a creek by a big boy when I was a child. We call all these kinds of happenings a miracle or good luck.
But there are opposite cases. One of the crew members of the ferry that sank in Korea handed her life-jacket over to a student and helped her get off of the ship. But later that crewmember's dead body was discovered. We call a person who has sacrificed their own life to save others a hero or heroine. So sometimes we wonder what is more miraculous, the rescue or the sacrifice.
Generally a miracle is understood as a special event that happens beyond human knowledge and common sense or a thing that occurs against natural laws. So usually people believe that a miracle is a divine action. I believe that sometimes God gets directly involved in a specific matter of a particular person in a special way. A person who was diagnosed with a fatal illness and not expected to live for more than a couple of years has been living for twenty years until today. On the other hand the one who was always proud of his physical fitness and vigour passed away suddenly from a heart attack after heavy drinking.
Life is mystery. We never know what will happen tomorrow. A real miracle is that we are still alive. There are not any understandable reasons or justifiable explanations as to why and how you and I should be here. So Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today" (Matthew 6:34). Indeed the real miracle is that we are still able to enjoy today!
