Science fiction, among other genres and real-life experiences, explores the miracles inside people. We don't see them everyday because these miracles are so common. I understand that it seems like only rare, extraordinary happenings should be classified as miracles, but although those of which I speak are by no means rare, they are extraordinary by the expectations of modern mindsets.

Say you lose a loved one, and this loss slices a deep emotional wound into you. You are on the brink of despair because of it--and I'll get back to this later--but you press on and get through it. A couple months later, for the same reason, an acquaintance is also on the brink of despair, suicide even, but because you can relate, he or she gets through it also.

Now, this doesn't seem extraordinary, but look at it this way: Because some one you loved died, you were able to save someone else's life. Isn't that awesome?

As for another kind of miracles, often mentioned in science fiction, we should consider the human spirit, or at least one facet of it: endurance. I believe that deep inside, each person has a reserve of endurance in the form of hope, strength, or determination. It can be maintained by a number of things, especially memories.

You can see this endurance in the American POWs of World War II in Japan. Despite torture and harsh conditions, they didn't reveal their knowledge. This is greatly exemplified in "The Lord of the Rings" and the Star Wars novel "The Krytos Trap" and anywhere else where a person or character is on the edge of giving up but something keeps them going.

We don't like drawing on this reserve. It means that we are otherwise too weak to accomplish the task before us. What we don't want to admit is that drawing on our reservoirs of endurance makes us better and stronger physically, emotionally, and in the right cases, spiritually.

Then again, maybe we should save our endurance for the last, thereby ensuring that we've given it our best shot. I don't know. Maybe I'll never know. All in all, it just leaves me in greater awe of what is bestowed upon us, what power God has entrusted to us. May we learn to use it in the way He has ordained.