Sometimes I wonder....

For some odd reason, I can't seem to get the concept of televangelism out of my head. Scary, I know. Trust me, I'm not a budding TV preacher or anything of the sort. But I can't help but wonder what makes people-- ok, let's be clear, mostly men-- get on national TV stations and y the things they say and do the things they do? I mean really. "If you call this toll-free number, someone will answer your call and say a prayer for you. And when you give us your address, we'll send you a free package of 'miracle manna,' made exactly as the Bible describes it." Really? I can get this free package of bread from you, just for calling and giving my address? This manna (or water, or cloth or [insert Biblical-sounding item here]) can cure my disease, pay my bills and mend my relationships? Wow. Sign me up. Apparently all I have to do is get the thing in the mail, follow the instructions and watch God's miracles start to take place in my life. If this is truly the answer and the cure for suffering, why doesn't everyone do it? How about we take a million of these little things and cover the ground of the Middle East? Then we'll just pray and peace will come to the region, right? How about we just lay a bunch of pieces of this miracle bread on the United States Constitution? Then all of the injustices and unfairness of our laws will end, right?
Somehow I don't think it can be that easy. If miracles were easy and could happen all the time, they wouldn't be miracles. A miracle is something that shakes us to our cores and most likely terrifies us. A miracle is nothing to peddle on late-night heal-a-thons.
One of my favorite books is Leif Enger's Peace Like a River. In his book about the coming of age of a Minnesota boy, Enger weaves a poetic but accurate vision of miracles. Take a look and you'll see what I mean.
Back to televangelism. In college, I wrote a column for the school newspaper for a year. One of the articles was about televangelism. I wrote that if Martin Luther were alive today, he would be a televangelist. I still hold to that idea a bit but I know now that if our favorite reformer were alive today, he wouldn't be peddling free Biblical bread or miracles on TV. He would, in fact, go off on those who did such things. Ah, Martin Luther. Aren't pieces of miracle manna or holy water a sort of personal indulgence? A ploy used by those in power to raise the (false) hopes of those who will so desperately cling to any chance they can get?
Beware, friends of easy miracles. While miracles do occur, they are often not in the form that we expect. We go through our lives looking for things that we could count as miracles. Normally, I don't like the be the one to quote Bible verses as a way to make a point, but this one stuck in my head.
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:2

Perhaps we miss some miracles because we are looking in the wrong place.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Amy