Do you see miracles?

Albert Einstein said:

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is though as nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed the film Signs (2002). In the story a farmer/Episcopal preacher Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) asks his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) this question:

“See, what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles?”

In the movie Morgan Hess (Rory Culkin) has asthma and that, oddly, saves him. Because of that his father found his faith again after the death of his wife. Graham Hess realizes his Christian belief system is more complicated than he had assumed.

In the novel WolfShe the Christian way of perceiving life doesn’t enter in. WolfShe, an indigenous woman, lives a life created by Great Spirit and regulated by Earth Mother. But she also faces a situation that challenges her belief system.

Conflict in literature moves the story. According to James Frey, author of one of my favorite books, How to Write a Damn Good Novel, the three greatest rules of dramatic writing are: Conflict! Conflict! Conflict! One's internal conflict moves the story along, as in WolfShe's case. What she saw about herself could be construed a miracle.