by Derek—2006.10.24 @ 2138
I read today about a miracle. Some people scoff at miracles and say they don’t happen any more. I think miracles happen today just as they did centuries ago, only today we have the odd problem of having too much knowledge to explain away the mysterious events of our lives. I believe that God works in natural ways using natural laws. A miracle is often a natural law or phenomenon that we simply do not completely understand or know how to operate. When we understand how something works or operates, it no longer appears miraculous.
As children grow up, for example, so many things appear miraculous: electricity, light, and a slew of others. As we grow and understand, these amazing things become so common place they no longer hold our attention.
But there are still so many things that defy explaination, even with today’s understanding. In the scriptures, there are examples of people being “struck dumb” or unable to speak. One of the most dramatic is in the Book of Mormon when the anti-Christ Korihor faces off with the prophet Alma and asks for a sign:
49 Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be astruck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.
50 Now when Alma had said these words, Korihor was struck dumb, that he could not have utterance, according to the words of Alma.
I’ve often thought about how this could take place so immediately. When I read about a certain miracle today, I cam across a disorder I’ve never heard of before: Spasmodic Dysphonia. This condition made it clear to me how so many things about our body could be easily and simply shut off or on again by modifying one thing: our brain. The answer is so simple and yet so powerful! Sight, hearing, movement, even healing and pain are all controlled by our brain. By simply knowing how to make or break connections in our brain, all kinds of “miracles” can happen.
While Alma may not have known how to break a brain connection “remotely” to stop Korihor from speaking, he did understand the law upon which it is predicated, and it all boils down to obedience. Alma was obedient to God’s law and could, through his faith, command in all things.
There are still so many things we do not yet understand how the brain works, and while I don’t know if spasmodic dysphonia had anything to do with Korihor’s condition, it doesn’t lessen the fact that it is still a miracle then, nor that miracles still happen today.
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