Miracles are not extraordinary. They are commonplace events that happen at the perfect moment. Small daily miracles are like flowers that bloom for us to pick and cherish. We can develop a talent for recognizing miracles and be introduced to wondrous gifts.

Truly miracles are like wine, and vastly improve with age.

Miracles are like angels who have sometimes been visible to men, who would much more willingly have introduced them to an acquaintance with the laws and society of heaven, than have filled them with fear and consternation. They are insulated examples of laws as boundless as the universe, and by the manner in which we are affected by them, prove how much we have to learn, and how utterly incompetent we are to judge of the ways of God.

Miracles are like small animals in the forest. Sometimes you see them, but mostly you don't.

It is far easier for the God of the universe to perform what we call a miracle, than for the signalman from his box to shunt great engines and their trains. Rationalists who deny miracles are like men who, knowing nothing of the working of a railway system, affirm that trains must always run on fixed lines--that they run of themselves--and can never be diverted from their ordinary track. Such ignorance, were it possible, would simply mean that they knew nothing about the signal-box.

Miracles are like jokes. They relieve our tension suddenly by setting us free from the chain of cause and effect.

Miracles are like the pedal to the playing of the Divine musician. God does not by these means correct his instrument Nature; He makes it subservient in an exceptional manner to the superior needs of man.

Miracles are like all the other phenomena of nature, viz. that they are the effects of a will that possesses a creative energy and universal sovereignty; in other respects they differ widely from the ordinary operations of nature--as the sudden stoppage or reversal of a steam engine differs from its ordinary motion. They are effects aside from common occurrences, attracting attention by their novelty. Their design is to prove that God is interposing, or has interposed; and to this end, they must bear the unmistakable divine signature.

A peculiar feature of the Christian miracles which is constantly ignored by apologists is diabolism. The majority of the miracles ascribed to Jesus consist in the casting out of devils. When we read that "hath a devil" and "is mad" are used as synonymous, and find that the persons said to be "possessed" are also described as lunatic, or with the symptoms of epilepsy, or as suffering from dumbness, lameness and blindness, how can we avoid the suggestion that the New Testament simply reflects the common savage superstition that certain diseases are the work of evil spirits, to be warded off by prayer or other charms of presumed magical efficacy?

Miracles are like winning the lottery, they always happen to other people.

Miracles are like wine: they are of little use unless they be venerably old. We pay no attention to a miracle happening under our nose; but, if the same miracle had been said to have happened in remote ages in an obscure part of the world, and vouched for by convicted and self-admitted liars like the Christian Fathers, we should have believed in it and been ready to apply the rack and fagot to all who doubted. A profane falsehood becomes a sacred truth, if it be only told long enough and by pious enough imposters, better educated and better placed than the fools upon whom they exercise their imposition.

Miracles are like the credentials of an ambassador. They are proof of his authority. Because we accept the miracles of Jesus we can trust the truth of his teachings about God.

In the light of the New Creation all miracles are like snowdrops--anticipations of the full spring and high summer which is slowly coming over the whole wintry field of space and time.

Miracles are like facts of animal magnetism, or table-turning. They come into existence only where there are people ready beforehand to believe in them.

A miracle is like an accident, and if the same accident keeps happening all the time, then somebody's making a point, aren't they?

A miracle can be defined as: An event that appears to be contrary to the laws of nature and is regarded as an act of God. Or, an event or action that is totally amazing, extraordinary or unexpected. But the true meaning of a miracle can be explained very simply. It's a change of perception. Think about that for a moment.

A miracle can be viewed simply as a change in perception, and changes in perception can happen over time or instantaneously. Quantum theorists say our consciousness influences the environment that surrounds us. And consciousness is influenced by perception, which means that changes in perception can alter the world around you. Whether you want to look at this from a spiritual point of view, or a scientific point of view--we think it is miraculous that your world can be altered when you see things in a new light.

To deny that a miracle is capable of proof, or to deny that it may be proved by evidence of the same nature as establishes the truth of other events, is, in effect, as I have said, to deny the existence of God. A miracle can be incapable of proof only because it is physically or morally impossible, since what is possible may be proved. To deny that the truth of a miracle may be established involves the denial of creation, for there can be no greater miracle than creation. It equally implies that no species of being that propagates its kind ever had a commencement; for if there was a first plant that grew without seed, or a first man without parents, or if of any series of events there was a first without such antecendents as the laws of nature require, then there was a miracle.

Men's thirst for the most amazing and indubitable wonders actually stems from a desire for a faith without shadows, for a crown without a cross.... A miracle is Christian only if it helps us to believe rather than relieves us of the necessity of faith.

Miracles don't happen in a vacuum. There needs to be an openness; a prayerful expectation, and an urgency compelling God from our hearts.

Miracles don't occur when I want what I haven't got or pray for neon letters in the sky. I can only perceive the miraculous by appreciating and being open to each moment. I tend, as I think many of us do, to think that miracles are only those things that bring great joy, happiness, clarity, or relief. But miracles often, at first, seem a mixed blessing at best or even quite painful.

Miracles don't have to be huge and dramatic. They can be small and beautiful like flowers blooming in March, right after a snowfall. They can be a snowflake falling during a summer rain storm. It could be a lost cat finding refuge at your home.

To say that miracles don't happen is to be dogmatic without warrant. To insist that they should be normative is to be expectant without wisdom. To believe that they serve God's purpose in his time is to be reverent and worshipful.

Miracles don't breed so much faith as the desire for more miracles.

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