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COLUMNS
Miracle and inadequacy: First you have God, then you have me
March 3, 2010 | The Catholic Sun
Exactly one month ago I became aware, or let’s say re-aware of two truths:
Truth #1: God is still in the miracle business. What our God can do with one little egg and sperm is stunning… Mother Teresa, John Paul II, and now Edye Jane Marie Moore. Stunning, I tell you. Ten fingers, 10 toes, and all the potential of a saint; one teeny, tiny, big, fat miracle.
Truth #2: I am totally inadequate.
I have no degree in child development, or in chaos management, and I am supposed to teach this kid to be kind, stay out of traffic, and flush the toilet when she’s done? Never mind getting her to heaven. What was God thinking?
J.S. Bach’s second wife was probably asking herself the same thing after child #13 was born, feeling a kinship that I also share at present with the disciples before Jesus fed the 5,000. I only have five loaves and two fish.
Self-awareness about our insufficiency is not a bad thing, no matter what Oprah and Dr. Phil say. Certainly not during Lent. Each of us is not nearly enough. We may have little trouble accomplishing the basics of our roles at home or at the office, but the sum of our responsibilities, if we truly embrace them, leads us to the conclusion that our human effort is inadequate.
As a first-time mom, this realization would have been pretty discouraging. But as a mother to four miracles, this is a great relief. That is because I have embraced Scripture’s promise that “Where I am weak, God is strong.” So, like Paul, “I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” (2 Cor 12:9)
Dependence on God
Where I can only give God a few measly hours of sleep and the stamina obtained from my morning cup of octane, He can give me the strength to accomplish basic tasks that serve my family. These days those are the loaves and fishes. Here, Lord, all I have is three hours of REM. And I am gonna need to educate my two eldest, feed a colicky newborn, and console the regressing 3-year-old with an identity crisis.
And He responds to me, to us all, as He did to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So for now, our children get some education, food, and a wee bit of one-on-one time.
Like I said, He’s still in the miracle business.
This explains to me how Johann Christian Bach (child #11) could have turned out to be one of the great German composers of the 18th century and not a serial killer. It wasn’t necessarily his mom, but her dependence on God, the Father of her 13 miracles, for strength.
Each Lent we are reminded of our limits, but we can be encouraged by the fact that God is still in the miracle business. For salvation history — which involves all sorts of “insufficients” in Christ’s lineage — didn’t end on Calvary. It was realized there. And the Author of Life continues writing that history in each of us, in spite of our weakness.
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