Thursday, April 15, 2010

I wasn't born yesterday!

I am a huge cynic. Shocking, I know. I'm the first to question email forwards. No, Microsoft is not doing an email beta test. No, a U.S. President was not stupid enough to order the firing of half the cattle guards in Colorado. And people! Do NOT send money to anyone emailing you from Nigeria. When Starbucks gave away free pastries a few weeks ago, I assumed it was because they were trying to get rid of the stale stuff they had overflowing in their corporate freezers by passing them off to us unsuspecting caramel machiato addicts. On the other hand, if the National Enquirer I'm reading in the check out line says Tiger Woods has multiple mistresses, I'm prone to believe it. Cynic R Us.

By the way, do you know what the plural noun is for a group of Tiger Woods' mistresses? A "skank" of mistresses. Haahaahaa. Gotta love NPR.

But I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with all the cynicism about the rescue of Nadia Bloom, the girl who was lost in alligator infested swampland in Florida. Her rescuer, James King, said he prayed and then God led him to Nadia. And God had to have been protecting that child during her five day odyssey. When asked how he felt, Nadia's dad said "I can't even describe it. Let's give the glory to God." So why are people questioning it - assuming it's a hoax. It's a sad commentary.

I guess it's what you can expect after the balloon boy debacle. We just don't want to be suckered in by yet another larger-than-life, too-good-to-be-true story. It's unfortunate on so many levels. Mostly, it's unfortunate that we feel the need to put God and His ability to provide miracles into our little, cynical box. Just for today, I'm going to try to put that box away. Want to join me?

1 comment:

Stephen said...

Yeah - even your cynical little brother has to agree. There's a lot going on in this world that's way above and beyond the comprehension of we mere mortals. Just because miracles may not fit into our (probably hopelessly inaccurate) little mental models of reality doesn't mean they don't happen. Who are we to say otherwise?