Beautiful post and so timely for me as I am counting down the days to baby number 8. I’m sure you know how long those last days of pregnancy can seem. I was reminded me of this quote: “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Simcha, do you have any children? Have you ever studied—really studied—the sequence of little miracles by which a unique human being, never to be duplicated, is conceived and developed in the womb? I doubt it, or you never would have written your opening sentence. If you read neonatology articles, you’ll find that whenever scientists play God and genetically engineer hildren with special characteristics, they create a high frequency of birth defects and illnesses. Because God, the author of life, *is* directly involved in our conception, there can be nothing ordinary about it. It is no accident that you and I are here. We were chosen by Him to use our unique gifts to serve Him and others. It seems the culture of death has made you view human birth as a commodity or a banal event. There is nothing theologically uplifting in this attitude. How curious you should feel more emotion for plants. Perhaps if you quit your garden for just one day and instead pray outside a women’s clinic, the Holy Spirit can turn your heart around.

I once read an essay pointing out that miracles seem stunning and a break from the norm to us only because we live in a fallen world. Miracles are a gift, a glimpse and momentary return to what the world ought to be. They take us back, just for a moment to the way the world was in it’s pre-fall state: Diseases wiped away, death reversed, a brief moment of perfection as the consequences of sin are wiped away. In that sense, new life is very much a miracle as God gives the gift of creation again in a sin-filled world.

Creation from nothing is a miracle. So too all that stems from it. Thanks God.

@That Hat Lady:  . . .

That Hat Lady:
The first sentence of your post almost made me choke!  ‘Do you have any children?’  HA!  ooooh…too funny!  Check the about Simcha area in the top right of the screen?

“She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and NINE children.”

Beyond that, don’t be sot literal minded and uptight…so eager to find fault and obnoxiously lecture.  You seemed to have missed the entire point of the article.  It’s not that these things are not miracle, but that if they are miraculous, it is not due to their uniqueness (or lack thereof), but BECAUSE of their abundance.

That Hat Lady, I think you’ve missed the entire point of the article.  And failed to read the little bio about Simcha in the upper right part of the page.

It’s okay - I always enjoy reading comments by “That Hat Lady” because she always manages to ferret out very precisely whatever point I didn’t make.

Here’s what I always wonder—WHY are things like flowers beautiful. I mean, why do we have colors at all? Why can’t every pollinator have adapted to like ugly and stinky, like that weird flower that only blooms every seven years or so? God didn’t HAVE to make trees turn gold and orange in the fall, or crocuses come in lots of colors, or blueberries taste so delicious.  So why? Sometimes I feel like creation is a gift—but not just to humanity in general—-to each one of us in particular. “Good Morning. I love you! Here’s a rose. Good Evening, I love you! Have a yard full of lightning bugs! I mean, I know we live in a fallen world and all, but if the fallen bit is so wonderful, what would un-fallen be like?

Oh That Hat Lady, Simcha is so blessed with children that it is amazing that she has a garden. Perhaps it is only because of her children that she can appreciate the growth of weeds.

Time for everyone to put on their “thinking” hats, before I laugh more coffee out my nose.

I recently read an article in Humanum quarterly review that talked of a child as a ‘gratuitous surprise’. I loved that phrase because it so perfectly summed up how I felt when I discovered I was pregnant. Yes, I was knowledgeable of the biology of conception but when it actually occurred, when I realized that .there now existed a new life, fruit of our love, where nothing before had been, it was a surprise, a gift and I was in awe (and still am in awe when I marvel at my son and await the arrival of my daughter).

This is great food for thought.  I know we have a tendency to take the beauty of creation for granted and I always relish the moments when for just a second, I forget MYSELF and marvel in the loveliness my Lord has made! 

P.S.  The first comment was a beautiful extension of this post.  But the second made me laugh. :)

“. . .perhaps it is only because of her children that she can appreciate the growth of weeds.”  That was a classic coffee up the nose line.

I’m 34 weeks & 2 days pregnant today with our first baby. When I read the second paragraph of your article I started to cry because [insert funny comment about being hormonal - yes..I am :)] this baby feels so miraculous to us after 4 years of trying, praying, and working with FertilityCare specialists and a NAPRO OBGYN. Somehow, that paragraph unpacked a lot of hurt in my heart about everything we’ve gone through. But, as I read on I was reminded of why it hurt so much - precisely because it is so common and my empty womb made me feel like the odd one out. You are right, that commonness is a gift and I’m grateful for your article. It helped me re-frame my perspective and reminded me how even with an empty womb there were ways the Lord allowed us to participate in that gift and now with a baby on the way we will participate in a new, more joyful way. Thank you,Simcha.

A miracle is a miracle is a miracle…..I looked up the word “miracle” and there are all sorts of definitions for it.
Regardless of what the Church calls a “miracle”...All I know is that when I first set eyes on my first born, I looked at her and the first thought in my head was “she is a miracle!” I was actually in awe of her…I could hardly believe that I just gave birth to this beautiful human being. It was my miracle given to me by God.
@Deirdre Mundy: I agree with you, everything in “life” is a miracle. Isn’t it sad that our beautiful world is being destroyed by evil people. God gave us so much to be grateful for and so many do not appreciate it.
Theological miracles are just a “different kind” of miracle from the everyday miracle such as giving birth or the sun rising and falling.  “Everyday miracles” are easy to believe in because it is happening to us, but the theological miracles can be believed or not. The Church acknowledges that these “different” miracles happened, but we are not obligated to believe in them. It is a matter of faith.

hatlady-are you catholic? if so, you know it’s ok to err, because you know the next thing to do is to say “sorry”...so go ahead and apologize to the author now that you see what everyone else sees…and if you’re catholic then you also know when you attack one, you attack us all because we (and you) believe in the commumion of saints and we don’t stand around and ignore our brothers and sisters who are judged inappropriately…I have 5 children and I certainly hope every parent loves his/her own as much as I love my ‘miracles”...I believe most do..what an amazing thing to find this out over and over again!

This is great! The rosary comes to mind when I read this.

Thanks!
Great article.It’s true,in each birth,heartbeat,sunrise,etc, God is pulling off a miracle.Over & over again.And we seldom take a moment to thank Him for the beauty & blessing of that repetition.

@Finallyamother, thanks for your honest testimony and unique perspective on the post.  So beautiful…

I agree—the first comment is a beautiful extension of this post. Further proof that Chesterton is the best.

@Finallyamother: Wow, what a beautiful testament to your faith. My friend went through a similar ordeal, 5.5 years of infertility, and then conceived with the help of the John Paul II Institute in Omaha. She was even surprised by a second baby only 22 months after the first, and she didn’t take any steps to boost her fertility that time. You may not have to struggle with each conception. But my friend says that she’s grateful for the wait because of how much more she recognized the miracle of a new baby. I wish you well for a happy delivery and joyful homecoming.

Also, love Deirdre Mundy’s comment about lightening bugs in the yard. One day I started asking God to give me a grateful heart. This was his answer: http://lettersto.us/archives/362

Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes.  The rest sit ‘round it, plucking blackberries (EB Browning)

I suppose the physical life is ordinary, routine and natural, not requiring a special act of God.  How many life forms exist on our planet that reproduce biologically?  Certainly, biological reproduction of a species isn’t miraculous…

However…

The soul.

The vast majority of natural biological reproductive events that occur on our planet, insects, birds, mammals, etc… they are soulless creations of a natural biological event.  But, there is a very, very narrow swath of reproductive events where God reaches in an imbues that singular creation with a unique spark that contains His image:  a soul.

That is truly miraculous that He does that…

Conception in and of itself: not miraculous

Creation of a new life with an immortal soul: miraculous

Friends, Simcha specifically said that it is “theologically” inaccurate to call it a miracle, and she’s right.  Catholic theology makes a distinction between what is properly a miracle and what is natural not in order to diminish the awe and wonder we rightly feel when we behold natural things in God’s creation, but in order to distinguish those from things God has raised to higher purposes, as in sacraments and miracles.  For the same reason that we distinguish a beautiful meal from the sacramental meal at Eucharist, we have to distinguish a beautiful natural occurrence from a miracle.

I think the miraculous part is that God chooses to work WITH us to create new life when He could just do it all by Himself!  :)

May your tomatoes ripen volumptuously, blushing shamelessly from their tangle of verdant green.  May the dark soil be blessed for yielding such succulent bounty.

Back to the topic of guy movies:  I am re-watching the three guy movies that I recommended and am pleased that I recommended them.

I’m glad I’m not the only one out there who thinks it it’s just so amazing and exciting when the little green things start poking up through the dirt.  Some of my family gets out and shares in my enthusiasm ,  others think I’ve clearly gotten too much sun, even though I try my darndest not to garden during the hot times of day…

Random: it’s too late to get started this year to be ready for Halloween, but pumpkins are super easy to grow, and are pure Thrillsville in the gardening arena- vines that grow insanely fast and hardy , huge obnoxious orange blossoms, and come fall, PUMPKINS. Great fun.

So are congratulations in order?  :)

Love this article!  We just found out we are expecting #4, and I’m blown away by the miraculousness and ordinariness of it.  You put to words exactly what I was thinking, in a way I never could have expressed it.

@Finallyamother - Congratulations!!!  We’re over two years into our NaPro journey… and we long for that ordinary event that happens ‘billions of times’. At first, my heart was hardened by how easy and normal new life is for many people. But over time, the hardness has been softened. I am so happy that it is normal and ordinary for most. That’s the way it should be. :)

Child birth is miraculous. All those tini tiny little atoms coming to gather, to form the new being. To compare it with a weed is like saying it has no purpose other than being a nusiance, and for people who are unable to have children themselves for whatever reason, child birth is miraculous. The whole process is amazing. The 9months of having a being grow inside of another being is miraculous. Weeds don’t do that. They root off each other, but they are separate themselves. If you are going to quote biology, you should know the process of life itself. Because it is the energy in every life form. God’s energy.

Simcha, over and over again, amazes me with her insight. :)

@ Love in the Ruins,

No, Simcha is theologically inaccurate. The soul is supernatural. It is not something the natural world bestows on us, it is something God bestows on us at the moment of conception by intervening in what would otherwise be a natural reality. True, animal conceptions and births are purely natural, and therefore not miraculous. But theologically speaking every human life is a miracle, insofar as it takes an intervention on the part of God in the natural world. I know what Simcha’s saying, and I appreciate the point. But the theology is wrong. Neither nature, or our parents give us our souls. God does, and he creates it from nothing at the moment of our conception. THAT is a miracle.

I love how you get to the heart of things, Simcha.  As a woman expecting her ninth child, I understand exactly what you’ve written.  Thank you for the great reminder of the gifts we’ve been given.  God is good. 

My garden is also a frequent site of mind-blowing wonder. It often feels like confusion. What I love about plants is that they live and grow without a will. Our physical growth isn’t an act of our wills or a function of our souls, but it makes more sense somehow. Plants, though, grow purely in response to their environment. If a seed gets wet, it sprouts. If it stays dry, it doesn’t. If the soil is good, it flourishes. If the soil is bad, it struggles. No brain or central nervous system needed. It just does it. Wowzers.

Can’t help but think of how Matthew 13:24-30 applies to abortion.  How many times a pro-abortion person says that an unwanted baby will automatically become a weed.  Think of how much wheat has been lost through the tragedy of abortion.  God Help Us and Thank you Simcha for your article.

Hat lady- wow.  Did you even read the article??  I mean, seriously? Struggling to figure out how you came up with your interpretation.  Also, next time do just a bit of fact checking before you make assumptions about the author- though it did give me a little chuckle.

@ John H.

Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.”

Yes, God creates our souls from nothing, in the sense that he doesn’t take some mud and form it, however there is evidently something prior to our existence that exists, some sort of prior knowledge on God’s part.  So who’s theologically inaccurate now?

To be honest, she’s not talking about the creation of a new soul, she’s talking about the creation of a new human physically, which is what parents do.  There is no miracle to sex, conception, or birth.  Animals do it, man does it, not a big deal, not a miracle.  The soul is something different, and if you’d like, you can classify it as a miracle.  But she’s not talking about the rational soul.  The rational powers (the supernatural powers) of the soul don’t encourage growth, or life, it is the animal or vegetative powers, something our souls share with plants and animals

Ok, so how come Mary C. are the only two who are wondering out loud if Simcha and her husband are expecting? (except maybe for Keats - that post could mean anything).

beauty!

@ Joseph N. Mazzara,

Serious? Are you equating knowledge of our existence with our existence itself? God is also aware of evil. He KNOWS it exists. Are you saying he therefore creates it too simply by knowing it? God creates by bringing a thought to existence, not by having the thought itself. Try again.

And you’re wrong to say “She’s not talking about the creation of a new soul, she’s talking about the creation of a new human physically…” Humans do not exist without souls. You cannot create a purely physical human. You either pro-create a human, or you don’t. There is no such thing as a soul-less human. And in pro-creating, you provide the physical means whereby God miraculously, from nothing (yes from nothing) creates a new human soul. There IS a miracle to sex. It is a miracle that EVERY time a couple conceives a child, via sex, that child is miraculously bestowed with an immortal soul. God doesn’t do this without sex. He allows us to participate in this miracle, and it is a miracle. And you’re wrong again when you say “the rational powers (the supernatural powers) of the soul don’t encourage growth, or life.” This is exactly what provides us with life. Animals are animated by an irrational mortal spirit. We are animated by a rational immortal soul. If you separate our souls from our bodies, we die. So our souls do give us life, and without them we do not live. And therefore every conception of a human being is indeed miraculous.

Everything was created by God, absolutely everything that makes up the world we live in, animal/vegetable/mineral, biologically, naturally, any word one chooses to use.  The sun/moon rising and setting….“All things come from God”....the miracle of life….all things living.
First grade catechism: Who is God?...God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and of all things. The nuns did a good job…...

Sue,

Right, and creation from nothing is itself a miracle. God created the world miraculously, and he continues to create human souls, from nothing, miraculously. Human life is miraculous.

@Eileen, nah, that was just me taking the opportunity to talk dirty about veggies.

I don’t know what came over me.

If you make the creation of everything a miracle, you make nothing a miracle.

@ John H: With all respect, I think you are misunderstanding the distinction between natural and supernatural.  Natural (at least theologically) does not mean purely physical.  It refers to the nature of a thing, which can be purely physical, or both physical and spiritual (as in the case of man), or purely spiritual (as in the case of angels).  The soul is indeed not physical, but we cannot say that it is supernatural.  To say that would mean that the soul was not properly part of our nature, which it is.  Thomas Aquinas addresses this question (in rather more complicated language but with a great deal more nuance and accuracy) in question 90 of the Summa Theologica.  That said, I understand why it bothers people to hear someone say that a new baby is not a miracle—we worry about diminishing the awe we should feel at the conception of every new life.  But to call each new life a miracle or supernatural in a technically theological sense would have serious(and problematic) implications.  That is not to say that we shouldn’t revere and wonder at the amazing natural gift of every new human life; that is something I think we all would favor.

John H.:

“The extraordinary element in the miracle — i.e. an event apart from the ordinary course of things; enables us to understand the teaching of theologians that events which ordinarily take place in the natural or supernatural course of Divine Providence are not miracles, although they are beyond the efficiency of natural forces. Thus, e.g., the creation of the soul is not a miracle, for it takes place in the ordinary course of nature.”

From the Catholic Enclyopedia.  Again, who is theologically inaccurate here?

Perhaps we should just speak of ordinary miracles and extraordinary miracles.  Don’t argue!  Go pull some weeds or say your prayers, whatever makes you feel better.

Dogs have babies.  No miracle, just nature at work.  The miracle of human babies is that, with the help of God, a new soul has come into existence.  God is sharing His love by cooperating with us to bring into life an eternal being for His heavenly kingdom.  To me that is miraculous.

THE HOLY OF HOLIES

Elder Father, though thine eyes

Shine with hoary mysteries

Canst thou tell what in the heart

Of a cowslip blossom lies?

Smaller than all lives that be

Secret as the deepest sea

Stands a little house of seeds

Like an Elfin’s granary.

Speller of the Stones and weeds,

Skilled in Nature’s Crafts and creed,

Tell me what is in the heart

Of the smallest of the seeds.

God Almighty and with Him

Cherubim and Seraphim

Filling all Eternity.

Adonai Elohim.

G. K. Chesterton

Oh dear, I’d rather let Chesterton have the last word, but I don’t want to leave anyone in suspense:  no, I’m not pregnant!  Sorry, didn’t mean to mislead anyone.  I was at the beach, and had no idea there was a rousing game of “You’re a heretic - no, YOU’RE a heretic” back home.

@ Love,

No, I’m not failing to make said distinction. I’m not saying that the continuing existence of the supernatural is a miracle. I’m saying the creation of a new thing from nothing is miraculous.

@ Joseph M. Mazzara,

The Catholic Encyclopedia is wonderful, but it is far from dogmatic. Look what it says about the creation of a soul: “the rational soul is produced by special creation at the moment when the organism is sufficiently developed to receive it.” This is not Catholic Theology. We believe the soul is not given at a moment in which the material is sufficiently developed, rather at the moment of conception as JPII demonstrated in Evangelium Vitae. To say creation from nothing is not a miracle, is just bad theology. Just like saying a soul is given at a certain point in development. Pelosi would love this line of reasoning. I hope you don’t agree with this bad theology though.

See Jerry Rhino’s post. Thus is my sentiment. Just because something happens often does not mean it is not miraculous. Transubstantiation is a common occurrence in the natural world, brought about by natural elements, but it is nonetheless miraculous.

Actually, that is Catholic theology.  When a sperm is by itself, or an egg is by itself,both component part needed for a human baby, neither material is developed enough to receive a soul.  As soon as the little sperm fertilizers the giant egg, suddenly you have a development.  That development is called conception, and at that moment the material needed, a hardworking greasy elbowed sperm and the fat egg that goes with the flow, is instantly developed to the point that it can, and does, receive a human soul.

Q.E.D.

I wrote on my blog about miracles recently too and I also tried to qualify what I meant by using the word in context. I worded it differently but acknowledged that all of creation and how it functions with the laws of nature created from nothing is obviously a huge beginning miracle but my goal was to discuss miraculous physical healings outside the realm of what was naturally possible.

Conception and gestation are amazing but I see them miraculous the way creation is miraculous. It is quite valid, theologically to sometimes use “miracle” in a narrow use to describe events outside the laws of nature. 

As a former NICU nurse who now does perinatal bereavement care, I have developed a dislike for the phrase “miracle baby” to describe babies who survive because it insinuates that they were more special that the ones who didn’t…they both existed as living people with immortal souls and grew…one just stopped sooner than the other.  (For anyone blessed to have a NICU baby who survived precarious circumstances, I acknowledge your right to use that phrase, especially if there were actual supernatural healings, but I reserve the right to not use it)

‘I was at the beach, and had no idea there was a rousing game of “You’re a heretic - no, YOU’RE a heretic” back home.’
Literally LOL.
Poor Hat Lady, how embarrassing!

“... no human heart is big enough to cherish and delight in the individual births of all the billions of babies conceived. There are just too many of them. It’s just too common. It happens literally all the time, every second of every day.”

Perhaps this explains the thinking behind the most contemptuous and sarcastic bumper sticker (mixed in amongst about 30 others, as usual) I’ve yet to see in my highly progressive hometown—and on the car of a very unhappy looking young woman:

** 6 Billion Miracles Are Enough ** 

The poor, brainwashed girl fully misses Simcha’s point about the gift and the wonder—Chesterton’s too:
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”

@Mark, if you’re a Simcha fan, feel free to use the term “bumper turd”, which is what she renamed them. :)
~
I personally love the bumper turd that says, “My other vehicle is a broom.” My response is always, “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

I have to remember this when I’m about to vomit while changing the most horrific smelling toddler diaper known to mankind.  :)  Thank you again for your insight.

And people, stop getting stuck on the technicalities.  You are missing the point!  Just stop and enjoy God’s creation - and call it whatever you want, OK?

I should have clarified, early pregnancy hormone induced smell triggered vomiting.  :/  Still in wonder and awe, but doing so with a barf bucket nearby!

@ Natalie- I hear you! Currently pregnant with baby number 3, and I think it’s a “miracle” that I ever survive my 9months of treacherous vomiting, (for each baby, thus far).

Yes Simcha’s words will spring to mind the next time I’m hugging a toilet bowl, with my 4 year old rubbing my back telling me “Mum, the vomiting will stop when the baby is born, its ok mum, its ok”, whilst my 1 year old is unravelling the toilet paper roll, and stuffing it down the bathroom basin.

Children are indeed marvelous wonders, in every way possible. Love your down-to-earth analogies Simcha- so full of simple truths.

Ps. Take it easy on The Hat Lady, maybe she was having a bad day…(bad hat day, maybe)

Mark :
“Perhaps this explains the thinking behind the most contemptuous and sarcastic bumper sticker (mixed in amongst about 30 others, as usual) I’ve yet to see in my highly progressive hometown—and on the car of a very unhappy looking young woman:

** 6 Billion Miracles Are Enough ** 

The poor, brainwashed girl fully misses Simcha’s point about the gift and the wonder—Chesterton’s too:
“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
********************************
Thanks! Great quote.There must be a market for G.K.Chesterton quote bumperstickers out there, too.

This is perfect. And so seasonally appropriate. Anyone who grows anything—even a hanging basket on the porch—gets the vivid metaphor.

I love Nurse Tammy.  And Simcha. 
Happy Friday!

There’s a sunset nearly every day. They are the same, yet each one is different. And depending on where you are in the countryside, the same sunset looks different to each and every person. And if you watch awhile, it even changes as it sets, evolving in deepening hues of velvet and cloud. (If you bother to watch it.) A painting of subtle colors, rich and evocative, as large as the sky. So prodigiously wasteful and extravagant. So ordinary, and yet so beautiful. Every sunset is a Valentine card from God. “Be mine,” He says, “I love you. THIS big.”

Every child is so much more rich and varied and beautiful, so filled with love. A miracle of the everyday kind.

Wonderful blog post Simcha—thanks!
“They look and look, but do not see, lest they turn to me and be healed.”

Simcha, your comment box is a frightening place. Good for a laugh, though. Good post. I absolutely loved your post today today.

Happy Friday to you to Allison. I also love Simcha…the only thing bad about Simcha having such a great style is that some bloggers try to copy it and it doesnt usually work.

You can read my miracles post at perinatalbereavement.com

As people have commented above, it’s simply a matter of semantics and definitions… surely both theologically accepted miracles and common ordinary everyday miracles are evidence of God’s handiwork.  Certainly the miracle of each new life is not diminished in the least by the fact that it has happened billions of time.

Some comments have featured references to scripture or poetry - so how about good ol’ song lyrics from the theme of a major motion picture: 

“... The sky knows when its time to snow
You don’t need to teach a seed to grow
It’s just another ordinary miracle today

Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn’t it remarkable?
Like every time a raindrop falls
It’s just another ordinary miracle today…”

http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/charlottesweb/ordinarymiracle.htm

I frequently read your blog Simcha and love it. I have never commented before but I just had my first child a month ago so the miracle of life is still on my mind these days. I disagree that it isn’t a miracle. If God doesn’t give your baby an eternal soul at conception then it ceases to become a new life. It IS a miracle every time. Like the post anyway though. It’s amazing how everyday things like grass growing can bring us joy.