I’m interested in the spiritual world. I certainly have written about the importance of spirit, many times before. As a part of this, I have become a bit of a collector of religious iconography, from all around the world, and all throughout time.
I think I do this because of my one true belief about spirituality: I believe there is no “singular” way to “God.”
And call god what you will in this, be it Yahweh, Jesus, Muhammed, Allah, Forest, or Great Spirit. My thought is, there are as many “right” ways to “god” as there are people on the planet, which includes “no belief at all.”
In that, I find historical accounts of these interactions with the spirit world highly interesting, be them religion-based, or supernaturally-based. I like to learn about incidents that purportedly reach through the veil.
That being said, this is the anniversary date of “The Miracle of the Sun,” an event that occurred on October 13, 1917. It began in Fatima, Portugal, when three children (Lúcia Santos and Francisco and Jacinta Marto) began seeing visions. They were sheepherders, those kids. And while they were near their village, with those sheep, they had frequent visions from an Angel, who identified him/herself as the Guardian Angel of Peace. This angel taught them prayers and told them to be good kids. So, they were.
Then, beginning in May 1917, guess who showed up. None other than the Virgin Mary herself. Those children described her as “the Lady more brilliant than the Sun”. Mary told them things, like to pray the rosary every day. She gave them a prophecy, that if people prayed, it would lead to an end of the Great War.
They also heard, loud and clear, that on October 13, the Virgin Mary would reveal herself, and perform a miracle “so that all may believe.”
Now, of course, the three kids were probably upended. And between them, they argued back and forth a little bit about what they should do. Other than the obvious of praying the rosary, and showing back up on the 13th. Little Lucia said they should keep the whole thing under wraps. But Jacinta decided to tell her family. They did not believe the story, but Jacinta’s non-believer-mother told the neighbors as a joke. Within one day, the entire village knew. And from there, newspapers got a hold of the story. It escalated. More than 70,000 people showed up on the day of the miracle on October 13.
A lot happened leading up to the event. More sightings by the kids, and more instructions, specifically on June 13. They were even arrested for a time, because a local authority accused them of being politically motivated. The Lady of Fatima, though, told the children that Francisco and Jacinta would be taken to Heaven soon, but Lúcia would live longer in order to spread her message. It just so happens that Francisco and Jacinta would die the next year during the flu epidemic. And Lucia went on to be a nun in the order of the Immaculate Heart.
Back to the main event, the Miracle of the Sun. On that day, they all got soaking wet. All the people. It rained like a mother. But all at once, the sky turned dry. And then, according to many of those 70,000, the sun “danced” in the sky, and “zig-zagged” back and forth. Their clothes dried suddenly, miraculously, as well as the muddy ground. Accounts came from all walks of people, both religious and secular. Even government officials reported the miracle, a spectacular sight in the sky.
And then, of course, there are many who have explained it away, offering physical and scientific “possibilities” of what might have happened that day.
And I say. There are as many paths to spirituality as there are people on the planet. We should probably just follow the goodness in our hearts.
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“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
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“Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
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“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
― Anais Nin
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That miracle in the sky, if you believe it is. Or not.
