I’m not sure if there is a God, but if there is, I wonder if he/she ever gets tired of listening to the millions of requests for miracles. There’s a scene in the movie “Bruce Almighty” where Bruce, who is filling in for God, can actually hear the voices of people clamoring for help. It becomes like a buzz in his head. Please oh, please, the people pray. Until Bruce can stand it no more.
I can imagine that if there is a God, it’s pretty much like that, except that God would have to be a lot more tolerant of so many voices all praying for a sign or a miracle. He or she would have to be amused at the way that, when something miraculous does occur, we all so reluctant to believe.
That said, I met a lady from Lockport the other day who sees the Virgin Mary in the knotholes of the tree in front of her Harvey Street home. I interviewed her about all the experiences she’s had since, of little miracles and apparitions, and I would have truly loved to have believed her. She was so sweet, so prayful.
I’m a journalist so I don’t have to believe her to tell her story. I just have to report the facts. I have to tell readers what is supposed to have occurred and then relay what others have to say about it.
I love these stories, for their “what if” value, but I find myself unconvinced. I hope God doesn’t hold that against me the next time I am praying for a miracle.
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September 19, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Admirer of the Writer
I hope it is OK to post a comment on an “old story” as this is my first time ever posting a comment on a blog….I feel so “21st Century”.
I can appreciate the story and the woman’s ability to see the Virgin Mary’s face in the trees as I too have seen God this past weekend in the tress on the Pacific Rim in a place called “Cathedral Forest” on Vancouver Island in B.C., Canada.
Coming from Cheektowaga, NY, I grew up playing in a big tree at the end of our street on Park Edge Drive. All the kids would meet there and our big oak tree would turn into a gathering place, guaranteeing a social interaction either with one of our best buddies or some “older” kid from the neighborhood. I don’t believe any of us appreciated the security, ownership or love of our big comforting companion tree during those years.
All those good times and reminders came back to me this weekend when I stood in front of the “big daddy” Douglas Fur tree in this incredible forest. I had flash backs of Bobby Wojcik, Tom Daily, Peggy McCoy, Cheri Otto and myself hiding out, flying our space ship tree to other planets and laughing at each other. As I bowed before this King, I wondered how my neighborhood pals and I could climb this giant, with a circumference of 28 feet and 300’ tall (I may have over exaggerated the numbers), but as a child, that is how big our “friend” looked behind Mr. & Mrs. McDonald’s house on Park Edge Drive. I figured if Bobby or Tommy were here with me, we would figure out how to climb it.
Back to the story…. “A little miracle in the tree”, after some humbling moments in front of this majestic new friend, I realized what a small creature I am in this magnificent Universe and I knew this encounter with the tall giant was a “God thing”. . . Oh yes, I was looking right at God that day. I thanked my new friend for the warm, fuzzy flash back memories. As I walked away, I could hear Bobby calling “kee-ah-kee”, our calling card to meet up at our “giant” tree.
I know I saw God in that tree this weekend, but I also saw her/him in the spy hopping whales, the faces of the children on the beach and a 90 year old man I met hiking by himself at a secluded water fall on a trail in Blackcomb Mt. Nature has a way of making that happen. I guess it is also perception. Thank goodness we can all find God in someone or something. I hope to make it to Lockport someday to see if I can see Mary. In the mean time, I will look for her here in Florida…..Keep up the good work, Michele Coffas DeLuca. I love your stories.