A Chesterton Quote Impossible to Remember
"Anyone who likes, therefore, may call my belief in God merely mystical; the phrase is not worth fighting about. But my belief that miracles have happened in human history is not a mystical belief at all; I believe in them upon human evidences as I do in the discovery of America. Upon this point there is a simple logical fact that only requires to be stated and cleared up. Somehow or other an extraordinary idea has arisen that the disbelievers in miracles consider them coldly and fairly, while believers in miracles accept them only in connection with some dogma. The fact is quite the other way. The believers in miracles accept them (rightly or wrongly) because they have evidence for them. The disbelievers in miracles deny them (rightly or wrongly) because they have a doctrine against them." - Orthodoxy by Gilbert Chesterton - Page 157
That quote is eight lines out of a 55 line paragraph in Chesterton's book. Apparently Mr. Chesterton was never at a loss for words.
What's My Point?
For about three months, I have been choosing a few lines meaningful to me from Chesterton's book and copying them into a Google document on my iPad. The goal is to have a better understanding of Chesterton's interesting defence of orthodox theology which I find to be logical and rational. On the morning of May 14, 2023, the paragraph portion above was what I copied.
Maybe those words about miracles caught my attention because of my current situation, following various advised medical regimens after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The adventure started in the late summer of 2021 with a mild but not painful discomfort in my lower left abdomen. I could have easily continued to ignore it.
However, I got an early October appointment with my GP and after some discussion with him, wondered aloud if we couldn't just do a scan to see if anything was going on. He said yes and, a couple of hours later, on a Friday afternoon, I was undergoing the scan. A couple of hours after that I got a call from the doctor saying that I would be seeing a surgeon the following week.
The surgeon took a look at the scan and, when I asked if he was going to do a biopsy, said no, that it didn't matter what it was, it had to go. I guess he knew, from the scan, based on his experience, what it was. The early November surgery he scheduled resulted in removal of about half the pancreas, a few inches of duodenum, the spleen, and a few lymph nodes, two or three indicating malignancy.
After a month or so of surgery recovery, the oncologist started me on a six month chemo regimen. I took the summer of 2022 off, but a scan in early fall dictated a more intense chemo (Folfirinox) for six months. Then in early spring 2023, after a favorable scan, I was shifted to a less intense chemo (5-FU) which is ongoing. As of May 2023, I feel great, pretty much the same as summer of 2021 before the whole adventure started. A few days ago I rode my recumbent bike 20 miles in 75 minutes, a bit faster than four minutes per mile, and about what I was capable of two years ago. I am thankful.
Now, what about the miracle issue? Many people have told me during this ordeal that they are praying for me. I don't know exactly what they are praying for but I love them and thank them for it. My own prayer for myself has been for fortitude, patience, peace, and joy, all fruits or gifts of the Holy Spirit, throughout the process, wherever it leads. I'm experiencing that now and give thanks for answered prayer, probably not of documentable miracle status.
I am personally attributing miracle status to, and thank God for, the inspiration that sent me to the doctor in October 2021. As I said in an earlier paragraph, the discomfort wasn't that bad and could have been easily ignored. Without that early detection before lung or liver involvement, I suspect I would be dead or nearly so by this time. Life expectancy for stage 4 pancreatic cancer is 12 to 18 months.
My miracle is not dramatic like such as healing of a crippled man or a man born blind. I don't believe I would be justified in asking for a miracle of that scale, or that I could ask with faith, and don't intend to do so.
Of course the skeptic, relying on his or her "doctrine," would say it was all luck, that I won a small prize at the lottery, or maybe just bad luck that I have the cancer at all, or maybe that the story isn't over...I'm still going to die from pancreatic cancer. How pessimistic!
I could take full credit for the decision, talking about what a smart fellow I was to see the doctor and suggest a scan when I did. I'm not taking that route.
My evidence of a miracle is that I feel good, am still serving and enjoying life, that the whole experience has been sobering, educational, and valuable, and that I am a slightly better person, perhaps better able to express sincere empathy, for having gone through the experience. Thanks be to God for sending me to the doctor in October 2021. And may He continue to grant me fortitude, patience, peace, and joy throughout the process wherever it leads.
Catholic Teaching on Miracles
I know that my miracle wouldn't meet miracle criteria established by my Church. Here is a quote from this article on the subject:
"Because miracles play such an important role in the Catholic faith, a Vatican-appointed Miracle Commission composed of scientific experts and theologians works to determine whether these claims are authentic and genuine. For example, a commission researching an event of seemingly miraculous healing will call upon the help of medical rofessiohnals appointed by the Vatican to determine if there is any medical explanation."
I won't be calling on the Miracle Commission to evaluate my evidence. I will just give thanks for it. I suppose that for every dramatic and mysterious event explored by the Church's Miracle Commission, there are millions of small undocumentable blessings, each one miraculous.
Bonus
For the curious: Educational Material on Pancreatic Cancer
