According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, “miracle” is defined as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” Miracles are not something that just happen for no reason. They are something special and should be looked at as uncommon. Miracles are not every day occurrences for everyone. In Urban Dictionary one of the definitions is, “Something you will never, ever forget. Even if life tries to wipe off the memory, it will stay attached.” It is a special event in life that shall never be forgotten whether it may be big or small.
I have watched a lot of television over the years and I have seen many shows that involve miracles but two shows that center around them are “It’s a Miracle” and “Animal Miracles.” Things would happen that we did not think were possible, I would say to myself, “What? How did that happen, that is impossible!” It is hard to imagine how many miracles happen every day in this world. I think society uses the term “miracle” very loosely. We may say, “it’s a miracle” when it really is not. We say that a miracle is a work of God. God performed many miracles that are explained in the Bible. Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God through his miracles. The supernatural nature of Jesus is a central theme of all Gospels. In Matthew, chapters 8-10 demonstrates Jesus’ miraculous activity. Jesus heals leprosy, He heals from a distance, controls nature, casts out demons, raises the dead and heals the lame, blind and mute. These occurrences do not happen naturally, but are shown through the power of God. There was a reason those certain people were cured by Jesus himself.
When Jesus heals the man with leprosy, “He reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, ‘See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them’” (New International Version). That act is extremely remarkable because the act of healing was not intended to bring attention to Jesus. He healed the man, but did not want attention to be directed to the healer, only to the healing. A lot of time, a person might believe a miracle occurred only because of them but it is also in God’s hands.
There are many miracles demonstrated in Peace Like a River. Swede definitely has an opinion about miracles, “My sister, Swede, who often sees to the nub, offered this: People fear miracles because they fear being changed--though ignoring them will change you also. Swede said another thing, too, and it rang in me like a bell: No miracle happens without a witness” (3). I slightly disagree with that because I believe they can happen with only one person seeing what happened. If a miracle occurs, just because no one else sees it other than the person who it happens to, does not mean it did not happen. Other people may not believe it, but that is their decision. To call a miracle, a miracle, it evaporates the strength of the world. Another thing that Reuben said was, “Real miracles bother people, like strange sudden pains unknown in medical literature. It’s true: They rebut every rule all we good citizens take comfort in” (3). He says that a “real” miracle is Lazarus obeying orders and climbing up out of the grave. I do agree with that statement because that is something that was totally unexpected and unnatural.
Another miracle that happens far into the book is meeting Roxanna Cawley. In their travels to find Davy, they meet Roxanna who takes care of the family, gives them a place to stay and feeds them great food. “But she went to a lot of trouble for us, who were after all just one small family paying a few dollars for a night’s room and board,” Roxanna really put effort into helping them even though their coming was completely unexpected (180). They do not have to worry about sleeping in the trailer and the family can actually have a nice place to stay. It was a miracle stumbling upon her house and business. They did not expect to get anything out of it but they fortunate enough to have the rest of their lives changed after meeting Roxanna. Reuben said, “At this dread realization occurred: Since arriving at this house, we’d had no miracles whatever” (257). They had continued through life without any for a while but that is fine because miracles are not supposed to just happen all the time.
Reuben, one of the main characters in this book, is a miracle within himself. He stopped breathing at the beginning of his life. When his dad said the word, “breathe,” Reuben came back to life and began breathing even though the doctor said it was impossible. He is definitely a blessing to Jeremiah Land and his family, and Jeremiah is now his son’s hero. Reuben says that the word miracle is used to characterize events or things that are pleasant but entirely normal at the same time, “Such things are worth our notice every day of the week, but to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the word” (3). He should not have survived but he did for a reason. Reuben’s asthma attack shows another miracle. Reuben wakes up to Roxanna pounding on his back in the morning. His father, Jeremiah and Roxanna help him survive through it. Reuben has many breathing issues because of his asthma, so surviving through asthma attacks with no trouble is a miracle. “You don’t emerge from these episodes clearly. I managed to turn enough to glimpse Roxanna Cawley in a flannel nightgown hammering my corporeal self with the strictest resolve,” shows that Roxanna cares about each family member even though she barely knows them (184).
Finding Davy was another miracle, he could have been anywhere and they eventually found him. His escape showed how we wants to be free and live life on his own. They continued to search for Davy and did not give up on searching for him. Reuben thought there had to be a miracle to find him, “And I thought, Without a miracle, exactly what chance do I have? I decided to then tell Swede about Davy. I opened my eyes and she was still there reading aloud, crouched forward into a verse,” and that is when Rueben told her that he knew where Davy is (258). Swede had absolutely no idea, she probably thought it was miraculous, but not to Reuben because he kind of just stumbled upon him and happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Towards the end of Peace Like a River, Reuben says that the one thing he was not waiting for was a miracle, “Blanketed in my window seat I puzzled it through, concluding that God, feeling overworked on our behalf, had given us Roxanna as a parting gift---a wonderful one, you understand, just what we’d always wanted, but accompanied by the end of the miraculous” (292). They asked themselves if it was unjust because they were hoping for a miracle that demanded energy. One of my favorite quotes in the entire book is, “Shouldn’t that be the last thing you release: the hope that the Lord God, touched in His heart by your particular impasse among all others, will reach down and do that work none else can accomplish--straighten the twist, clear the oozing sore, open the lungs (292)? We can have hope because of God’s miraculous actions.
A miracle is something that happens that is totally unexpected and that is against nature, something that is good. A miracle is amazing, surprising, shocking and unexpected. Sometimes we associate it with a physical healing such as disease or someone being cured, but it can also be in sports. If a losing team beats a good team, then people might say that is a miracle. Or if someone passes a test that they did not study for, they may call that a miracle too. There are many different types of miracles. Sometimes we are are in denial of a miracle happening, especially when it has to do with health, we want a cure to happen, but doctors may say it is impossible. Everyone hears of them happening and we say, “that is amazing and it is a miracle!” It is highly improbable and an accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences. Miracles should not be taken for granted. They do not just happen for no reason at all. The Land family experienced many miracles throughout this period of time. Miracles are a prominent theme in Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Miracles occur throughout the entire book to show that there is a sense of hope and desire for something good.
Citations
Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River. New York: Grove Press, 2001. Print.
"Matthew 8 (New International Version)." Bible Gateway . New International Version. Biblica , 2011. Print. <http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew 8&version=NIV>.
Urban Dictionary . San Francisco: Urban Dictionary, LLC , 2011. Print. <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=miracle>.
