A school is leveled by an earthquake, killing dozens of children; two days later, a child is pulled from the rubble with no apparent injuries. A team bus collides with a truck and all are killed except for a young man who is thrown from the vehicle, surviving without a scratch. And yesterday, a passenger jet collides with a flock of birds, loses engine power but safely lands on the Hudson River; all crew and passengers survive without serious injuries.
Religious people refer to such events as miracles, seeing the hand of God in the protection of those that survive. Of course, they never explain why God allowed the earthquake or accident to occur in the first place or blame him for any suffering or death that resulted from the event. They are reluctant to accept the fact that luck and happenstance often govern our lives and, in the case of yesterday's accident, tend to minimize the role that skill, training and safety procedures played in the fortunate outcome.
Miracles are illusions of the primed human brain, offering reassur-ance that God is there to protect us from harm. Unfortunately, such beliefs impose a heavy burden on survivors, many of whom feel (or are told) that they were saved for a reason, that they are destined to play a significant role in God's plan. Such expectations can produce feelings of inadequacy, leading to depression, anxiety and, in some cases, suicide. Miracles are best relegated to our mystical past.
