Miracles Course Journal: Mind power or miracle?

12/18/09

Mind power or miracle?

The Roman Catholic Church has institutionalized miracles in a way that seems odd when viewed through the lens of A Course in Miracles. ACIM defines the word 'miracle' in the most general terms as an extension of love that is, or ought to be, a normal part of everyday life. The followers of Peter and Paul tend to view miracles as rare and bizarre phenomena frequently associated with ancient trinkets of dubious authenticity.

In chapter 5 - A Pocketful of Miracles - of The Holographic Universe, Michael Talbot describes the twice-annual miracle of San Gennaro, or St. Januarius, who was beheaded by the Roman emperor Diocletian in A.D. 305.

"The miracle involves a small vial containing a brown crusty substance alleged to be the blood of San Gennaro . . . when the crowd shouts at the vial, the brown crusty substance changes into a bubbling, bright red liquid. There is little doubt that the liquid is real blood. In 1902 a group of scientists from the University of Naples made a spectroscopic analysis of the liquid by passing a beam of light through it, verifying that it was blood. Unfortunately, because the reliquary containing the blood is so old and fragile, the church will not allow it to be cracked open so that other tests can be done, and so the phenomenon has never been thoroughly studied."

It is difficult to see how that event, by itself, amounts to an expression of love, and the odds are pretty good that the vial of blood is some Medieval forgery from a time when saint's bones were bought and sold as collectibles with considerable commercial value. Nonetheless, something strange is going on with this, as Talbot explains:

"Occasionally throughout history (the first written account of the public performance of the miracle dates back to 1389) when the vial is brought out, the blood refuses to liquefy. Although rare, this is considered a very bad omen by the citizens of Naples. In the past, the failure of the miracle has directly preceded the eruption of Vesuvius and the Napoleonic invasion of Naples. More recently, in 1976 and 1978, it presaged the worst earthquake in Italian history and the election of a communist city government in Naples, respectively."

One might conclude the event is simply demonstrating the power of mind, and particularly the power of group mind. This is how Talbot sees it.

"Is the liquefaction of San Gennaro’s blood a miracle? It appears to be, at least in the sense that it seems impossible to explain by known scientific laws. Is the liquefaction caused by San Gennaro himself? My own feeling is that its more likely cause is the intense devotion and belief of the people witnessing the miracle. I say this because nearly all of the miracles performed by saints and wonder-workers of the world’s great religions have also been duplicated by psychics."

The phenomena defies the ability of accepted science to explain. By all rights it should be a wake-up call to all genuine scientists to be open minded. To all miracle workers, light workers, and healers it can be more evidence of the power that lays hidden in the world.

-oOo-

Tom Fox
Louisville, Kentucky

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