Of another world

[Bêthberry]

Perhaps I can drag this back to Tolkien ....

Please correct me if I have the wrong interpretation, but it seems to me that people are understanding 'miracle' merely as something which violates the natural order or principle of the material, physical universe.

However, if 'miracle' is understood as something that occurs other than what was expected, the concept of miracle can be related to Tolkien's idea of eucatastrophe. Think for a bit about the destruction of the Ring. Was Frodo's desire not to throw the Ring into Mount Doom a violation of natural principles or expectations? No, most readers understand that by that time he had come completely under its influence. Is Gollem's jump and the violence of his act to take the Ring a violation of our expectations? No, not at all. Competely what we would expect of him at that point in the story.

Wherein lies the unexpected? In his inadvertent fall into the volanco, taking the Ring with him. Is this contrary to physics? No. Is it, according to Tolkien's explanation of eucatastrophe, something not foreseeable which brings 'piercing joy', a result completely unexpected? I think so. It is the sort of thing which demonstrates--as others have argued elsewhere--Providence.

And that appears to be the essential nature of miracles, that they have an effect unexpected, a working out of things which does not in itself automatically or essentially mean a violation of the material world. And in the eyes of believers, demonstrate God's Providence. Something happens completely other than what we expect, and that something brings about a change. Evil is not destroyed forever in Middle-earth, but a balance has been altered.

So, if one accepts Tolkien's concept of eucatastrophe, must one accept the concept of miracle?

I assume davem got a laugh out of the FSM, a form of comedic political activism which I told him of in Private Message as something not unrelated to his idea of personal mythologies. I hope others can see the humour in the letter and the situation without being offended--the desire to avoid offending people is why I referred davem to it in private message rather than here.