What is a miracle and how do they happen? While I can't define a miracle, I am learning what they do. Among other things, a miracle creates a shift in perception that moves you from a state of fear into a state of peace. The whole world shifts with you, because everything looks different from this new state and you see yourself differently too.

"A Course in Miracles" makes statements like these about how miracles happen:

1. "When peace is all you want, peace is all you'll have.
2. "Seek peace first and everything else will be taken care of.
3. "When a miracle happens, we are moved into action.
4. "When you are healed, you are never healed alone.
5. "The whole world goes with you.

The story below helps illustrate how this miracle process happens in real life.

One day, I was sitting in my room meditating, feeling waves of peace. All of the sudden, I heard my husband and teenage son arguing in the kitchen. A feeling of dread came over me as I realized what would happen next. They would continue to argue and then come get me to referee their fight, as I usually did. It was a familiar pattern in our family, but one I had not seen so clearly until this moment. We can see things more clearly from a place of peace inside.

Today, I wasn't willing to play referee. I was experiencing peace and I wanted to keep it! The louder they fought, the harder I tried to drowned them out, as I mentally chanted, "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God."

I heard them starting up the steps. They were quarreling all the way. "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God," I chanted, determined to keep my peace.

Soon, they were at my office door. They pushed open the door, and sat down in front of me as they continued to argue. Couldn't they see I was meditating? Didn't they know they were disturbing my peace?

By then, I had to admit I no longer had any peace to keep. I believed we are responsible for the events our lives, but how could I possibly be responsible for this quarrel, when all I wanted was peace? While I didn't know how I could have caused it, I did realize I had become a part of this conflict when I began resenting their intrusion on my peace.

I was determined to deal with this situation from a state of peace. So, I decided that I would not say one word to anyone until I was at peace within myself. "I want the peace of God. I want the peace of God," I continued to repeat in my mind.

Suddenly, the picture in front of me shifted. Instead of seeing two people quarreling, I saw two people in total agreement. Spontaneously I exclaimed, "Oh! You agree with each other!"

They both turned toward me with looks of total astonishment on their faces. "Agree?" They shouted in unison. They both looked shocked, like I had just slapped them across their faces.

"Yes!" I exclaimed with delight. "You both want love and respect, and you want it in the same way."

They turned to look into each other's eyes, as tears rolled down their faces. In that moment, they knew the truth. They were both calling for love, but because they each felt a lack of love, they didn't know they had love to give. They didn't know they had what the other wanted and valued, right there within themselves . . . their love. In that moment of peace, we were all healed . . . together.

Miracles are perceptual shifts that lead to action, spontaneously. As I moved from the fear of losing my peace into a state of actually having peace, I saw the situation differently and spontaneously responded to the truth I saw through the eyes of love.

We don't know the right thing to do until we are in the right place to see things as they really are. Anything that disturbs our peace also distorts or perception. Seeing things from peace, we spontaneously know what to do. When we seek a peace first, everything else is taken care of effortlessly.