Melting Snow

Sunday Contemplations on Spiritual Subjects

Sunday, February 26, 2017

"God is merciful. In His mercy He answers the prayers of all His servants when according to His supreme wisdom it is necessary."
‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, 87. Dublin Inn1

The "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  prompt for DAY 1082
Wishes. Miracles. Prayers. Positive vibes. Do you believe in any of these? Do you feel they have an impact in any way? What's your go-to coping mechanism in times of crisis, and why?

Wishes, Miracles, Prayers and Positive Vibes

Do I believe in wishes? I suspect that depends on whether I see the first star of the night, blow out all the candles on my birthday cake or get the larger end of a turkey's wishbone. Those are all superstitions that I was taught goring up. I don't remember ever received the item I wished for as a results of any of them. I don't think there has ever been a scientific study proving or disproving any of those or any other method of wish granting. If a person does get a wish as a results of one of those methods, I suspect there are other factors in play that could explain the granted wish. This means that I'm somewhat skeptical as to whether wishes can be granted by any method that doesn't have to do with either Divine (see answers to following questions) or human intervention.

Do I believe in miracles? Yes! Simply because something can't be explained by known scientific laws doesn't mean it is inexplicable. If a law governing an event hasn't been discovered or the scientific community doesn't want to recognize that law doesn't mean there isn't some natural or spiritual law governing it. When the Unknowable Divine Essence created the universe certain laws were put into effect. These laws work whether or not the scientific community knows about them or recognizes them. Miracles occur all the time without us recognizing them either because we don't want to believe the occurrence or for some other reason. If you look for miracles in the mundane events of everyday life you will see them.

Do I believe in prayer? Yes! God (the Unknowable Divine Essence) answers all prayers. There are four possible answers a person can get (1) Yes, (2) No, (3) Wait, or (4) You have the capability of getting it yourself without divine help. The responsibility of the person praying is to figure out which answer God is giving. Sometimes it's immediately clear that the prayer is answered because it come in the way the person praying wanted and expected it. At other times God answers the prayer in an unexpected way which the person either doesn't recognize or doesn't want to recognize. We as believers (it doesn't matter what religion you profess) have to accept the primes that God answers our prayers according to God's Divine wisdom and mercy. Sometimes we have to look for the way God has answered our prayers.

Do I believe in positive vibes? Yes! The human intuition, which is an attribute of the soul, can detect both positive and negative vibes. One of the problems is that we're not taught to listen to our intuition. The other is that we don't know how to develop or rather exercise our intuition. We develop it through prayer, meditation and listening to the voice of intuition (some people refer to it as gut feeling). Once you learn the sound of your intuition and start listening or exercising it then it will come into play more often.

Footnotes
1  Dublin, New Hampshire August 5, 1912