Is it a miracle?

Sometimes, you just can't know if something really is a miracle or not.

That's miracle as in supernatural intervention for the good. This is the meaning usually used in a religious context. Technically speaking, though, miracle only means 'something wondrous'. That definitely counts in this story:

Battling Back from Poverty: A Christmas Miracle

This family was in desperate straights. Sick kid, bills up the wazoo, no money... and I though I had it rough.

You know what I really want to know? Where all those trash bags full of stuff came from. They had everything the family needed, plus Christmas presents. And whoever it was paid all their bills for the month.

Who was it? It's just amazing that this happens right before the family finds out their baby is going to live.

But more important than that is what they did with their lives afterward. It's a very heart warming story.

In the category of "You're not going to believe this"

Car Crushed by Semi. Driver Lives.

Yikes.

It's a little hard to see, but that's a car under the side of that over-turned semi. From what I could see, there was only about 2, maybe 3 feet of space under the semi. Most of which was filled by what used to be a car.

A very nice car, if the exposed pieces of metal are any indication.

Even I wonder how this guy managed to survive. If guardian angels have water coolers his probably had quite a lot to talk about.

Baby grew in liver??

Okay, that sounded really gross, so of course I followed the link.

The BBC isn't afraid of the weird

This is the phenomenon known as ectopic pregnancy. Usually when these are discovered the baby is aborted because the doctors figure the baby won't survive and will put the mother at risk.

Well, when it's in the fallopian tube I guess that would be rather dangerous. But this is proof that such babies can survive. I think we should concentrate on making sure that more such babies survive. Well, it'd be even better to make sure ectopic pregnancies don't happen in the first place. (Those implants that are supposed to prevent fertilization? Bad idea!)

Don't know that this exactly counts as a miracle per se, but a lot of people do view birth in and of itself as a miracle. And this is definitely an unusual birth.

Maximilian Kolbe

I wonder how many people know about this man. He was a priest who lived in Germany when the Nazis came to power. He was sent to a concentration camp where he eventually died.

A story from his youth is rather touching.

Apparently he was a rather uncontrollable child and his mother didn't know what to do with him. (If he was anything like my brother, I can understand his mother's frustration.)

At any rate, he was worried about how his mother was worrying and went to a small altar of Our Lady of Czestochowa (I dare you to pronounce that). After a couple days of this Our Lady actually appeared to him holding two crowns. One was white, representing purity, and the other red, representing martyrdom. Our Lady asked young Kolbe which he would choose. Kolbe picked both.

A somewhat more complete account of this incident, and the rest of his life, can be found at Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Say, it's Advent, isn't it?

I suppose, in keeping with the season, I really should turn the discussion of this blog to something a bit more cheerful.

In any case, one might get the impression that the paranormal things discussed in this blog reside strictly in the realm of evil spirits.

Not true, or I should hope not. Better start now to keep that from happening.

After all, there are good spirits, too. There's also the Boss, who's the embodiment of Good.

So for the Christmas season I will start posting stories on miracles.

The first one is an interesting little thing I found on YouTube of all places. I don't usually go there, but I think this video is worth a look.

Angels 101

We seem to have a very odd view of angels now, don't we? They're either cute little kids a la "Precious Moments" or sylph-like women in flowing gowns.

But what are angels really like?

For one thing, they aren't female, or male. As non-corporeal entities things like that are meaningless. No need to reproduce if you don't die, you know?

In the Bible angels always appear as young men, probably as a matter of convenience. (It'd look rather odd to Abraham if three women came wandering into his camp.)

Another thing, and this is very important, angels are not to be worshiped. If you ever run into an angel that is fine with being worshiped he's working for the wrong side.

(I use the pronoun 'he' as a matter of convenience. 'It' makes them sound like they aren't people.)

As long as I'm on the subject I should also point out that even though when we say 'angel' we usually mean the ones working for God, demons are angels too. Fallen angels, specifically.

This is very important to know because real demons aren't red with goat legs and horns. In fact, they can appear like anything. Because of this it's best to test any spiritual visitors you may have.

Yeah, the chances of you having a visit like this are extremely slim, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.

A very basic test is to throw holy water at the entity. Assuming it's visible, of course. If there's no reaction then the visitor is most likely one of the good guys. If there is a reaction you could be in a world of trouble. Better start reciting the St. Michael's Prayer, The Lord's Prayer, or any other prayer you happen to know. Contacting a priest would be a good idea, too.

Common reactions include, but are not limited to, unearthly screaming, violent poltergeist activity, and boiling of the holy water.

And one last thing to finish up this post on angels. Humans do not become angels when they die. Angels started out as angels. Humans stay human even after their physical form stops working.