The preacher at the memorial service no doubt thought he was giving a message of comfort to those who had lost a loved one. The central thrust of his message was that it was Jim’s time to go. It was apparently the kind of message he had repeated many times before.
Recently someone I know well said that it was a miracle when an elderly relative did not catch Covid after another member of the household had tested positive. I was a little taken aback by the use of the term. I acknowledge that this outcome was a beneficial occurrence and that gratitude is an appropriate response. What happened might also be described as improbable, but it wouldn’t be something that I would have called miraculous.
