Yahoo! News - Tree Stump Virgin Mary Draws Faithful
OK, I know I'm a pastor. I believe in God. I believe God is active in this world. I believe in miracles, both big and small.
But sometimes, folks, a tree stump is just a tree stump, alright? =)
Yahoo! News - Tree Stump Virgin Mary Draws Faithful
I'm glad that the people in this desperate neighborhood suddenly have some kind of hope, but I'm dismayed that it takes some silly superstitious "sighting" to inspire it. Let's consider reality for a second:
(1) As far as I can tell, the photo of the tree stump in question doesn't look like anything other than... a photo of a tree stump. It's a pretty huge stretch of the imagination to "see" anything here, much less a human figure.
(2) Our brains are wired to see pictures in completely random things. Think about the constellations in the sky. Is there really a "big dipper" pouring soup all over the heavens? Of course not. But our minds connect the dots. Especially into faces. It's a very good thing, biologically speaking, to be able to recognize human faces instantly, and as early on in life as possible. It helps us survive. A side effect of this is that we see faces everywhere, from interesting rock formations (the former "Old Man of the Mountain" for example) to bowls of Cheerios. And... also tree stumps.
(3) How on earth do these people know what the Virgin Mary would look like if she did somehow appear in a tree stump? Because they've seen "her" picture in children's Bibles and stained glass windows? Except Mary never had blonde hair, or light brown, and she certainly didn't have a light complexion, rosy cheeks or blue eyes. In fact, no physical description is ever given of Mary, except that she was a Jewish girl (which rules out those things I just mentioned). About the only way we could "identify" about her is that she wore a robe. But if some robed woman were to really, truly appear in a tree stump, how would we know it was Mary? Why not Miriam, sister of Moses? Or Sarah? Or Deborah? Or Ruth? Or Martha? Or Phoebe? Or... well, you get the idea. There were lots of godly women in the Bible who wore robes.
Anyhow, it's useless to argue against superstition like this. But I wish people would look for the real miracles that God does every day, rather than making up ridiculous ones like this. Every time "the Virgin" appears on a moldy piece of toast or on the bottom of someone's swimming pool, the fanaticism causes many rational people to conclude that miracles never happen, that every miracle is just a case of silly, superstitious people imagining ludicrous things.
God is at work in this world. But I'm pretty sure even God pounds his head on a table when people ignore the things he's up to in order to pray to a tree stump.
But sometimes, folks, a tree stump is just a tree stump, alright? =)
Yahoo! News - Tree Stump Virgin Mary Draws Faithful
I'm glad that the people in this desperate neighborhood suddenly have some kind of hope, but I'm dismayed that it takes some silly superstitious "sighting" to inspire it. Let's consider reality for a second:
(1) As far as I can tell, the photo of the tree stump in question doesn't look like anything other than... a photo of a tree stump. It's a pretty huge stretch of the imagination to "see" anything here, much less a human figure.
(2) Our brains are wired to see pictures in completely random things. Think about the constellations in the sky. Is there really a "big dipper" pouring soup all over the heavens? Of course not. But our minds connect the dots. Especially into faces. It's a very good thing, biologically speaking, to be able to recognize human faces instantly, and as early on in life as possible. It helps us survive. A side effect of this is that we see faces everywhere, from interesting rock formations (the former "Old Man of the Mountain" for example) to bowls of Cheerios. And... also tree stumps.
(3) How on earth do these people know what the Virgin Mary would look like if she did somehow appear in a tree stump? Because they've seen "her" picture in children's Bibles and stained glass windows? Except Mary never had blonde hair, or light brown, and she certainly didn't have a light complexion, rosy cheeks or blue eyes. In fact, no physical description is ever given of Mary, except that she was a Jewish girl (which rules out those things I just mentioned). About the only way we could "identify" about her is that she wore a robe. But if some robed woman were to really, truly appear in a tree stump, how would we know it was Mary? Why not Miriam, sister of Moses? Or Sarah? Or Deborah? Or Ruth? Or Martha? Or Phoebe? Or... well, you get the idea. There were lots of godly women in the Bible who wore robes.
Anyhow, it's useless to argue against superstition like this. But I wish people would look for the real miracles that God does every day, rather than making up ridiculous ones like this. Every time "the Virgin" appears on a moldy piece of toast or on the bottom of someone's swimming pool, the fanaticism causes many rational people to conclude that miracles never happen, that every miracle is just a case of silly, superstitious people imagining ludicrous things.
God is at work in this world. But I'm pretty sure even God pounds his head on a table when people ignore the things he's up to in order to pray to a tree stump.
posted by Bob at
2:06 PM
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