greyline

Have you witnessed a miracle or healing? I'm primarily interested in stories from theists or former theists who, at the time, believed they were witnessing or experiencing a miracle or healing. I'm not interested in articles you may have read, but in personal accounts.

When I was going through my brief converted stage at Uni, a famous American faith healer came to town and we Students for Christ faithfuls gathered in a lecture room to hear him (along with random other students who were there for their own reasons).

At the end of the talk he said he was going to do a healing, and that Jesus was telling him that someone in the room had an injured left shoulder. Being a left-hander taking notes 6 hours a day, I tended to have a recurring crick in my left shoulder/neck, which the day before had been painful, but which was not actually hurting that day.

I waited for someone else to step forward, because being the shy type I didn't want to be the centre of attention. However, no one did, so I put up my hand. Went down the front and a second guy stepped up behind me to catch me in case I was overcome by the holy spirit. The healer asked how I got the injury and half a sentence into my explanation he got bored and started right into the healing. Unfortunately I felt no need to fall back, which deflated him a bit, but it was done and I announced that the shoulder was indeed pain-free. Hallelujah!

Another student asked me later, breathless, "How did he know about your shoulder?!" and I replied, "Jesus must have told him" (while that niggling voice in the back of my head said, "Gee, in a room of 300 students who take notes all day, it doesn't take a genius...".)

That unknown student is the one I think about when I recall this episode. By his question, I assume he was not a believer. No idea if he ever Saw The Light but he was clearly impressed with this incident and no doubt told his friends. It reminds me of how stories grow in the telling, and how what is witnessed by onlookers may not be what the "patient" (me) is actually experiencing.

I hardly need add that the shoulder started playing up as usual the following day. I actually lied to my prayer leader about that because I didn't want to admit it was all nonsense - how many of the healed then lie about the long-term results, I wonder.

Dark Knight Bob

I've experienced what might be called "emotional healing" basically when i was younger and open to brainwashing more. I was at a christian concert of a group who at that time I had a lot of respect for. Was up at the front the whole time dancing and then as theistic events always do, it all turned serious.

So the guy started spouting out about how everyone should (but doesn't have to) go over to the group to let their "pain" or "sins" or whatever, i forget, get washed out.

So there's me who was a very emotionally unstable kid anyway over in the group having people pray for me and everything and i had a massive rush of emotion wash over me. It really was a powerful event and afterwards and for pretty much the next two days I'd opened up to my parents and my brother openly admitting that I loved them etc and it felt great.

I don't now put that down to anything more than me letting my guard down and openly inviting my emotions to get the better of me. Being honest with myself it was something I wanted to happen so in that sense you could associate it to how hypnotism works on a certain level.

I was very wary of events like that afterwards. Despite feeling good at the time I wasn't comfortable in the environment it was a happening. I've witnessed several similiar events occouring to other people at other meetings that my parents dragged me along to.

I mean it's a fascinating display of what the mind is capable of doing. I just wish there was an environment that I could reproduce it in that didn't involve some magical sky man and lots of middle aged men in suits touching me.

I've seen it's effects used from anything from speaking in tongues to releasing of "pain" in several forms. Nothing as sham ridden as curing people of paralysis or what have you. These people i encountered may be ignorant of what was really going on but i've never encountered out and out charlatans. Which is unfortunate because today I might have to balls to call them on it.

pbaylis

Greyline,

I know you asked me this on the other thread. I have experienced several such personal events, mainly connected with a visit to Medjugorje back in 1989, which I haven't felt prompted to share as yet.

Just before I travelled to Medjugorje, I had a Franciscan monk lay his hands on my head. I felt his hands tremble and what can only be described as "heating up". He was basically saying "Whoa" and I was thinking the same thing as a hot wave came through the top of my head and descended into my lungs. I remember feeling very uncomfortable and almost could not stand it to the point of asking him to stop. Someone told me later that I was not yet prepared to fully experience the power of the Holy Spirit and it was hence more uncomfortable than comfortable.

While in Medjugorje, I stepped onto the balcony of one of the visionaries and immediately felt a heavy weight that seemed to be pushing me to my knees, as if to say "You need to get on your knees boy". At that time I wasn't that good a person and was filled with pride and self-love. I take both experiences to mean I needed to get more humble and pray in an adoring way before I would I would be able to experience God as love and comfort.

Nevertheless I felt atuned to the power of the Holy Spirit. Often while walking around Medjugorje, I would notice a priest praying over a person and I would get that same uncomfortable hot feeling in my lungs, even though I was standing at some distance from the person.

Since then, I have been married to an atheist Chinese woman. I prayed a lot for her and she eventually converted to Catholicism. I prayed very hard before her first Catholic mass which was in Chinese and I could understand none of it. I remember there being an acrid smell of something burning outside the church, then as soon as the opening hymn of the mass started, Sandy, my wife started sniffing the air with a pleasant look on her face. She said that she could smell flowers. This laste throughout the mass. All I could smell was the burning rubbish outside the church. It was thick in the air. Later we discovered that what she smelled was roses, which is Mary's trademark and experienced often in Medjugorje.

Sandy also had a problem with her leg that caused her to seize up with pain on cold days and affected her walking most of the time. She knelt down in front of a statue of Our Lady and when she got up all the pain in her leg was gone and she has never had any trouble with it since. Sandy is pretty special though and humble and I can see why Mary might take a liking to her.

We are planning another trip to Medjugorje together as soon as finances come right.

shen_27

I definatley thought I had experiance miracles as a christian....one exaple in particular sticks out in my mind....

Back when my grandpa was still alive, he became sick and was sent to the hospital. At the time, I was a very believing christian and prayed everynight....obviously, he was in my prayers and I asked God to heal him. Sure enough, in a few days he was released from the hospital and sent home. I couldn't thank God enough.

2 weeks later, he began having a heart attack while at home. Having had a few already, he knew what was happening, and an ambulance was called. He had the heart attack in the hospital, but it wasn't looking good at all. So this time, I not only prayed for his health, but I asked God that if he was going to take my grandfather, would he please try and minimize the suffering. I didn't want my grandpa to be in pain for long. That night, his lung collapsed and a day and a half later he died.

At the time, I again couldn't thank God enough. I knew he had taken my grandpa from me, but he had made his suffering short. I of course thought my prayers had been answered, and shared this story with friends as a miracle. When I became an atheist, I found it suprising how easily all the events in this story could be explained. The reason he was discharged from the hospital was because of lack of hospital beds (thank you lack of funding). He really should have been left in the hospital for much longer then he was. As for his quick death, I'm not a doctor, but I think it's reasonable to say that the heart attack weakend his body enough that it couldn't support itself. His body wasn't in the greatest shape as it was, as he had had cancer and major heart sugery over the previous two years. Before he died, he was hooked up to so many machines and pumped full of so many drungs that I almost didn't recognize him. I really think at that point, he was dead. Of course, once his lung collapsed it was just a matter of time.....

I find it funny now how most miracles we see or hear about can actually be so easily explained. I'm not saying they all can, but most can be explained using science and statistics.

Shen

Boro Nut

I remember once taking a snap photo at Lourdes of the visiting Mother Theresa. Only after the film was developed and printed back home did we notice that the leaves in the nearby tree had miraculously formed the unmistakable image of Scooby Doo.

I also left for work once totally engrossed in my morning paper. It was only when I reached the bus stop on the busy high street that I realised I was naked from the waist down, proving conclusively that dreams really can come true.

Boro Nut

Manitoumulegirl

I was a kid back in the era of black and white TV's and faith healers on Sunday mornings. I remember one rainy Sunday when I had nothing much to do and started watching the faith healer show (I forget what it was called or who the guy was - I was only 6 years old or so at the time). Anyhow, the guy had healed a bunch of people in the audience - supposedly - and he then held up his hands which the camera panned in on and exhorted the viewers to go over to the TV and place their hands on it and be healed. I was fascinated by this thought, so I went over and put my hands on the TV and waited expectantly for some thrilling jolt. Alas, nothing happened. I think I can trace the beginning of my skepticism regarding Christianity to that rainy Sunday morning.

I have had a couple of highly interesting experiences that I cannot find a logical explanation for, but they didn't have anything to do with any organized religion.

Mr. Aardvark

Every once in a while an attractive woman flirts w/ me. At my age that is a miracle.

Gamut

As a tongue-talking, scripture-quoting, faith-healing minister....I believed that I indeed was capable of being a "vessel" of the "annointing" and that by using my "faith" in conjunction with the "faith" of the individual, I could lay hands on them and impart this annointing thereby healing their sickness.

In my brand of charismania, there were mainly two types of healing:

1) Instantaneous
2) Not immediately manifested.

1) The instantaeous type were brought about by the reciever being in the right state of faith along with me and the will of god to heal immediately. In which case, they would be instantly healed.

2) The not immediately manifested healings were of the sort that for one reason or another (not going to explain here), they were not completely healed instantly.

In this case, the sick were told they MUST believe that they were healed that moment. It had already happened but was not evident yet. They had to believe their was a "transfer" of the annointing that was CURRENTLY AT WORK in their bodies and that with time, this healing would become evident.

I have entire notebooks prepared about these subjects so it is not something that could be taught in one post, even if I had the desire.

Now I believe it all to be bullshit anyway. Any "miracles" that occured were due to natural circumstances or lies by the one who recieved.

They lie because they want it so badly. But, you can only watch so many people die slowly with disease while believing the enitre time in the annointing, losing all their life savings to travel to far places for no reason whatsoever.

It eventually gets hard to make up reasons for the family and for yourself. The house of cards fell eventually.

I've never looked back.

Hedshaker

How strong is the power of suggestion?

In my days as a guitarist in a cabaret band I worked a few times with stage hypnotists. I've witnessed people prance about like chickens and I've seen people repeatably count nine fingers on their hands after previously, under hypnosis, being told that the number seven no longer exists. I truly don't understand why thoses people behaved like that. Was they afraid to go against the grain? To not be one of the crowd? I don't know, but I know anyone of them would have been convinced they had witnessed a miracle had the hypnotist suggested it.


I have no idea why people can be compelled to believe the unbelievable by the the power of suggestion, or the words in a book, but they do, and they love it.


Orbit

seebs

I have no idea. I have never seen anything I could convincingly show to be "a miracle", but then, I don't see why God has to be a show-off.