On the subject of claims of the miraculous, I try to present people with this idea:
"If you are looking for (or expecting) a miracle, you will always see one."
This essentially means, that if you are already assuming or expecting that a miracle will occur, then anything that even remotely seems extraordinary or lacking in a simple explanation will be immediately ascribed to the miraculous.
I would compare this phenomenon to seeing images in clouds. If I tell you I see a whale in the clouds (even if I'm lying) and tell you to look also, odds are many people will find a whale in the clouds. This is because the minds sees what it wants to see. If it's looking for a whale in the clouds, it will find a whale. If it's looking for a miracle, it will find a miracle.
This isn't even claiming the miraculous isn't possible, it's a very conservative claim that simply asks believers in particular miracles to take a step back and TRY to look at it objectively. This could have been useful in the case of one of the alleged miracles ascribed to the intercession of Mother Theresa where a woman in India (Monica Besra) claimed to be miraculously healed despite the counter-claims from her doctors who said it was a result of naturally explainable medical treatment and not a miracle. Of course, Catholics ran with the claim of the miraculous anyway.
"If you are looking for (or expecting) a miracle, you will always see one."
This essentially means, that if you are already assuming or expecting that a miracle will occur, then anything that even remotely seems extraordinary or lacking in a simple explanation will be immediately ascribed to the miraculous.
I would compare this phenomenon to seeing images in clouds. If I tell you I see a whale in the clouds (even if I'm lying) and tell you to look also, odds are many people will find a whale in the clouds. This is because the minds sees what it wants to see. If it's looking for a whale in the clouds, it will find a whale. If it's looking for a miracle, it will find a miracle.
This isn't even claiming the miraculous isn't possible, it's a very conservative claim that simply asks believers in particular miracles to take a step back and TRY to look at it objectively. This could have been useful in the case of one of the alleged miracles ascribed to the intercession of Mother Theresa where a woman in India (Monica Besra) claimed to be miraculously healed despite the counter-claims from her doctors who said it was a result of naturally explainable medical treatment and not a miracle. Of course, Catholics ran with the claim of the miraculous anyway.
