Typical Miracle

I have attended many Christian functions in my life - mostly for teenagers and/or young adults. Most often the main speaker is some 25 or 30 year-old who was raised in the church and fell off the Jesus wagon in college and then got pulled back on by the mercy of God. Their stories are curiously familiar. They sound like this:

“I was raised by 2 wonderful parents and had a perfect childhood. I accepted Christ when I was 9, walked down the aisle and was baptized. I went to college and started drinking and smoking pot. Then I took some acid, started having sex, dabbled in eastern religions, joined a cult, started dancing and playing canasta, got hooked on junk, bought some guns, robbed some convenience stores and reached the end of my rope. I went home one night and put a pistol in my mouth but I felt the Hand of God on me and turned my life around. I am a living miracle.”

Okay. Perhaps that’s a fabrication; or an amalgamation. Anyway, I’ve grown very weary and suspicious of these stories, not to mention that the message they convey is that you can’t really appreciate The Light until you’ve stumbled into your own Wicked Darkness. I would love to walk into some gathering someday and hear somebody say something like this:

“Hi. My name’s Madeline. My husband and I met at church camp when we were in 12th grade and fell in love. We were virgins on our wedding night and have been together for 31 years. God has blessed our marriage and our family. By popular standards we are kind of square, I guess. I’ve never taken my eyes off Jesus because He has never taken His eyes off me. God is good.”

Now, that’s a Miracle.