What is your opinion of this "miracle" that happened to me?

Great Debates
1

Assuming all of these statements are fact (which they are), what is your take on it?

When I was 12, I came down with a sickness which I battled for 2 weeks or so. Fever, weakness, headache, ect. I had been to the doctor and he only prescribed me some meds.

At about this time was when my mother was really getting into prayer, specifically prayer to the God of the OT and NT Bible. She had been a Christian her whole life, but God was impressing upon her the importance of prayer at this point in her life. (This is fact)

After about 2 weeks, one evening, the sickness got much much worse. I lied down on the couch and zoned out. (At this point is my mothers’ accounting, which she assures is correct, and my father verified it). Within the span of about 30 minutes, my face went from normal to blisters around my eye and ear, and all over my neck and face. My face solled up immensely with my eyelid swollen shut and my ear canal competely closed. My mother said it was “horrendous”. She was horrified. She frantically called the doctor and he said it was for sureHerpes Zoster. My father left to make an important meeting to say he had to return home. He saw all the blisters, but did not see the extent of the swelling.

My mother was praying and had in her mind to say these words, “The Lord is master of this situation. I receive your healing into this boy. I will not let Satan have authority here.” She looked out the window as she said this (about 5 seconds) and when she looked down, the blisters were completely gone. Within the next 2 minutes, the extreme swelling was completely gone. Within 5 minutes I woke up and stood up and told my mom I felt fine. My mother wanted to praise the Lord, so she pushed play on her stereo and the tape was set exactly to the words in a song that said, “Satan has no authority here”.

A week later, our live-in nanny, who was 70 years old, came down with Herpes Zoster. She had it, in it’s entirety, for 3 weeks. She looked hideous for 3 weeks straight and it ran it’s course. The doctor said that Herpes Zoster almost always runs it course.

Well, not in my situation.

To point out what’s important, those superficial blisters I had should have left at least a temporary mark on my face, right? But they didn’t. No sign of them at all.

Have people’s immune systems overcome sicknesses before of this nature and this quickly? Sure, it happens… a medical anomally. But how often does it happen on cue after a prayer of extreme faith and desperation? How often has this happened with this exact illness?

Again, except for my assertion that my mothers’ prayer was of “extreme faith and desperation”, this is all fact. Without any exageration, I assure you. What is your opinion of this occurrence? Medical as well as spiritual contributions are welcome, as well as an old fashioned, take-it-or-leave-it IMHO.

2

Before I can answer your question, I’ll need to know how those present ascertained that your ear canal had completely closed. Also, could you check with the doctor and have him verify that he was willing to give a diagnosis that this problem was “for sure Herpes Zoster” over the phone on the basis of his previous exam and your frantic and horrified mother’s description.

We have two assertions that seem unlikely and no qualifying information to help us understand why we should accept these remarkable aspects of the case.

Be more exact about the illness, and I’m sure people will have an opinion.

3

First off, I have to ask: if God fixes illness upon request, why is He so inconsistent about it? What about all those devout folks out there who die of cancer, AIDS, gunshot wounds, massive head trauma, etc.? Do their families and clergy just not pray hard enough?

Even if a God IS fixing illnesses, it appears that He does it on His own schedule, and prayer doesn’t seem to impress Him.

We have only the word of a very worried mother, concerned about her child, that the condition was “horrendous”. It’s quite possible that she saw it as worse than it was.
Notice that your father seemed to see it differently.

Similarly, she surely wasn’t watching the clock, so how accurate do you figure her time estimates could be… especially in that situation?

If a prayer tape was in the player, almost anything it could have said would seem relevant to a prayer-oriented situation, wouldn’t it? And your mother undoubtedly used a great many lines, some probably taken from that very tape.

If enough people pray over enough sick relatives, you’re naturally going to get some apparently “prayer-triggered” changes in the sick people’s conditions, just by simple probability.

I’m intrigued by your assertion that God was “impressing upon her the importance of prayer”. How did this work? How did He convey this message?

4

Be more exact about the illness? It was there for 30 minutes! All I have is what my mom saw (blisters and swelling) and my dad saw (blisters and me fine an hour later when he returned home). It is fact that my doctor (i’ll be back with his name later), said he thought that it was for sure Herpes Zoster (maybe he didn’t say for sure, but my mom described him being confident in his diagnosis so I added the “for sure”, sorry about that, it was an honest overlooking mistake to add those words).

My mom said my ear canal was visually closed. Probably not water tight, but visually closed.

The doc said that this Herpes in my eye could cause blindness.

I assure you beyond a resonable doubt that my mom and dad were not hallucinating and are “not pulling my leg” It is a very serious and life-changing issue for all three of us and I’ll be darned if my own parents would pull one over on me like this!

But in all seriousness, I don’t have much else to add to what I have said. The story stands as is with no other corroborating evidence but that I was well and alive 30 minutes after being in a deep sleep and sick as I ever was in my life.

5

**

I can’t get into this here, sorry.

**

My father was there to see the blisters as my mom described, by he left for an hour to drive to a meeting like I said… he was not there to see what happened in the half hour.

**

Like I said, my dad drove to his work which is a half hour away, to tell his partners he could not stay. When he returned, I was well.

[QUOTE]
**If a prayer tape was in the player, almost anything it could have said would seem relevant to a prayer-oriented situation, wouldn’t it? And your mother undoubtedly used a great many lines, some probably taken from that very tape.

[QUOTE]
**

Very true. Thank you for your opinion, that’s why I included that part.

**

Yes, true again. But my question is “what if it happened to you?” That’s of more importance to me than for people to point out the probabiity of the event. I realize the probability, I want to know opinions.

Like I said, this was fact. She and my dad would talk about their spirituality from time to time, and my dad verifies that she was indeed being more of a “prayer warrior” in the months leading up to my sickness. She admits as much as well. This was at a time when my mom was getting more involved in our new church and she was making new friends, which she still has to today, which were into prayer themselves. They were influencing her prayer life at this time. It is fact, or as close to fact as a claim of this nature can be.

6

Fuel, did you ever have chicken pox?

7

Actually, this thread is very convenient. Now everyone who was on the fence about whether Fuel was serious about wanting critical study of the bible in this thread can finally rest assured that he is merely another fanatical zealot (IMHO).

8

Your mom was getting involved with a new church and meeting new people and you think that it was not these reasons, but because God was “impressing upon her the importance of prayer” that she was praying more? She was probably excited about the new church/friends so she didn’t have the apathy a lot of people have after being associated with some kind of establishment for a longer period of time. Could that be an accurate statement?

Several coincidences that have an improbable outcome does not a miracle make.

9

You’re parents were horrified and yet you stayed home? My father would have hauled my ass to the hospital first and then called off work.

BTW What was the prescription for? You said he only gave you some meds. (what kind and what for)

Sounds like malpractice to me!

10

Stuff happens.

11

At the exact same time, Fuel, a black cat crossed in front of your house, stepped on a crack and then walked under a ladder. Why don’t you attribute your recovery to this?

Although 2trew’s answer may seem trite, it’s probably right on the mark.

12

Confabulation is the bane of all emotional eyewitness testimony. Ask any cop.

13

Herpes Zoster cannot be passed on to another, according to this site, so your nanny did not catch it from you. The site also says nothing about two weeks of fever and weakness before blistering; in fact, it claims that blisters set in after one to three days of pain or sensitivity, with a possibility of fever. I wonder if, over the years, your illness became associated with your nanny’s case of herpes Zoster. Perhaps the only connection is in the memory of you and your relatives.

I am not questioning your veracity or accusing you of lying. Plenty of family myths begin this way. My family argues over events- one remembers such-and-such happening when we lived in this town, with so-and-so present. Another swears that such-and-such happened years earlier, when we lived in that town, before we even met so-and-so.

As far as your allegation that God healed you through the intercession of your mother’s desperate prayers, did she not pray for your nanny? How terrible for Satan to have sovereignity over a elderly woman, a woman whose age guarentees that she will suffer much from a ailment like herpes Zoster.

14

As a believer, I think it’s a miracle, plain and simple. God answers prayer all the time. Miracles happen. And this is such an obvious one-- I mean, what are the chances? I would say, don’t be afraid to believe that God was really there that time, that he heard your prayer, and did it just for your mom and you.

15

Heh.

16

Your mother was probably under a lot of emotional stress at the time of your illness… My father remembers all sorts of things about my past that simply did not happen according to me. He even has a painting in his office that he swears was done by me. I know all my work, it is not mine, it’s not even my style. (But he fights all day, and insists that it is mine) This is, of course, is in no way like your situation, I know. But my point is that when a child is sick, it affects the parents on many different emotional levels… your mother was probably extremely worried that she was going to lose you… this would surely make me unstable and probably your mother as well. Don’t let what I say effect your faith, but it is my take on the situation.

17

Guys, I didn’t expect you to believe this story actually happened. I know better on SDMB. I said, “Assuming all of these statements are fact (which they are), what is your take on it?” Maybe I shouldn’t have said “which they are” because I realize now that that is tempting people to challenge the accuracy.

There is a reason why I posted this in IMHO for opinions, rather than in GQ for an analysis of it’s validity (whether it was possible).

18

I am a believer in God, and in miracles.

That said, I think you are a terribly biased witness, and I don’t trust your ability to separate fact from conclusion. In the example I quote above, you assure the reader that it’s “fact” that God was impressing the importance of prayer on your mother at this time in her life. If your aim is to provide a neutral, detached narrative of the events, you fail miserably.

  • Rick
19

Lets see what the physical facts are in this case:

  1. You were sick with an unspecified illness.
  2. Two weeks later, your eyes and part of your face became swollen.
  3. Your mother prayed.
  4. About 35 minutes after the swelling started, the swelling went away.
  5. The lyrics on the tape player were the words your mother used in her prayer.
  6. No doctor saw the swelling or definitively diagnosed it.

I think #5 is not significant at all. Your mom liked to listen to this song, and used it in her prayer.

There could be lots of reasons for someone’s skin swelling up. Maybe you had a food allergy. Maybe a bug bit you. It could have been lots of things.

I don’t personally think the supernatural had anything to do with it, but if it comfots you or your mother to think so, then there’s no harm in believing it.

20

I think your biggest concern would be whether or not god will have another miracle for you if you REALLY get ill. Not too many people die from what you had. Now if you get SUPER sick, have you already used your “get out of death free” card? Maybe you used your mom’s “get out of death free” card and now the next time she gets sick you’ll have to give up yours. Unless you get multiple favors. My mom didn’t get any. She just got sick and died.