I don`t like that vernacular usage. I would rather reserve the term "miracle" for things humans cannot do on their own. There are better terms for what happened with that plane - heroism, for example.
I would like to give to God what belongs to God, and give to humans what belongs to humans. I am willing to acknowledge a possible divine role in making sure everyone was where they needed to be and had the strength to do what needed to be done. But the bulk of the accolades belong to those we can see, who prepared for years for just such an event and then put their training into practice perfectly. If they choose to attribute their skills to God, that`s their choice. But I think it belittles their effort, many of them over the course of their entire lives and careers, to immediately call their actions miraculous - as though they themselves had nothing to do with it.
Of course, you then get into the very sticky theological situation: if this was a divine miracle, then what were the flights that DIDN`T get saved? Divine justice? I`d rather avoid going there - and avoiding the term "miracle" is one way to avoid that.
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Date: 2009-01-17 03:43 pm (UTC)I would like to give to God what belongs to God, and give to humans what belongs to humans. I am willing to acknowledge a possible divine role in making sure everyone was where they needed to be and had the strength to do what needed to be done. But the bulk of the accolades belong to those we can see, who prepared for years for just such an event and then put their training into practice perfectly. If they choose to attribute their skills to God, that`s their choice. But I think it belittles their effort, many of them over the course of their entire lives and careers, to immediately call their actions miraculous - as though they themselves had nothing to do with it.
Of course, you then get into the very sticky theological situation: if this was a divine miracle, then what were the flights that DIDN`T get saved? Divine justice? I`d rather avoid going there - and avoiding the term "miracle" is one way to avoid that.