The Push Of A Button

Our English word, “miracle,” comes from the Latin word “miani,” meaning “to wonder,” and the word “minus,” meaning “wonderful.” Other words in common use come from the same roots, including the word “mirror.” A mirror causes people to wonder or admire. The word “admire” itself is from the same source.

A kind of miracle in itself is the fact that, as the word for miracle evolved through various languages, it got itself tied up with the word “smile.” In Old English, Middle English and Scandinavian languages, “miracle” and “smile” go together. In some other languages, the word “miracle” and the word “laughter” are related. A miracle pleases. A miracle delights. It makes us smile or laugh for sheer joy that it came to pass. A Senior Editor of “Readers’ Digest” once wrote:

“Miracles show what is possible, not what is so. They beckon the imagination, and who is bright enough to know that they do not at times foreshadow what is to come?…