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Do you believe in Divine intervention?
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Chicago Tribune religion writer, Manya Brachear reminds us that the latest atheist advertising blitz doesn’t reflect the beliefs of a vast majority of Americans. According to the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, “while belief in God only declined modestly over the last half century, acceptance of atheists and anti-religionists grew appreciably. 
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The report seeks to measure “religious change around the world”—and as one might expect, the data are clearly ambiguous. The rising tide of tolerance seems to have had little impact on how believers understand the word “God”.
As Manya Brachear notes, when it comes to what Americans say they believe about God—not much has changed. Traditional images of God as father, protector and judge persist as the most meaningful metaphors. For most believers, the point is feeling like the Ultimate Ally is on your side.
Several days after Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf coast of the United States, a story was published in USA Today about Edward and Bettina Larsen and their three children, who had sailed their boat to the Florida Keys. As hurricane warnings were posted, the Larsen’s friends became concerned that they hadn’t returned to home port and notified the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard started a search, but high winds and rough seas forced them to call it off.
A day after the storm had passed, the Coast Guard resumed the search and miraculously spotted the family of five stranded near their beached boat on a mangrove island sixteen miles out to sea. One by one, the family members were hoisted into a Coast Guard helicopter and then they were all taken safely home.
Commenting on the rescue, a family friend said, “Sometimes there is a thing called divine intervention.”
Divine intervention—or mere coincidence? Good fortune or fate? It depends on how you look at it.
Shortly after hurricane Katrina’s rampage, a terrorist website proclaimed that, “the hurricane was a divine sign against the corrupt crusading America. The hurricane should be taken as a warning to America that even with its military force and technology, nothing can be done to thwart the power of Allah, who guides humanity as he sees fit.”
In other words, God created the hurricane as punishment, like the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. So divine intervention creates suffering for some and joy for others.
Go figure.
Some saved from the storm believe they were saved by an act of divine intervention. Some claim the storm itself was divine intervention in the form of punishment. What we see depends on where we stand. Does God interfere or intervene? Does the Divine alter the course of peoples’ lives or change the direction of history?
Asking for divine intervention is to ask a person-like God-being to come to the rescue. Whenever I hear people jubilantly tell me that God has intervened, performed a miracle, saved them from death, I understand the momentary bliss. But our deepest need is not for divine intervention but for Divine presence.
It has not been my experience that God appears in my life like a pop-up on my computer screen, magically appearing between me and my difficulties in order to blow them away. Quite the opposite.
I talk to a lot of people whose lives are in upheaval. They come because they need someone to listen to them and to be present with them. They need to sit with someone who will hear them without judgment. They need a witness.
I am often amazed that they say they feel better when they leave. I’m amazed because I haven’t really done anything except to be as present as possible.
This is something we can all do for our friends and family. We can be open, present, and compassionate even if we cant’ intervene to change any particular situation. We can be like a spacious ocean of love for each other in whatever situation we find ourselves.
Compassionate presence is both mystery and miracle. It changes nothing, yet it changes everything.
How about you? Do you believe in Divine intervention?
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