Here I’ll try to answer in general and it’s all about my own believe in the matter. Everything – including miracles happening in our lives has to do with our own karma. Our lives have been set within certain lines. Since we have a free will, we are able to deviate sometimes from the bigger lines that are set up before we are born. Just like in your question – “why in an airplane crash only one or two survived, while the others died”. There was nothing wrong with them. In the bigger lines their lives were about to end, and ended, while the lives of the few others were saved because they had more things to do, or to accomplish before leaving the Earth plane. This is why when miracles happen, we all, or most of us remain in awe. Subconsciously we know that the once that did survive might be special, and have other things to do and accomplish… And who knows, maybe something big, such as the cure against AIDS, or having all of us regain the telepathy we are able to but “forgot” how to use… etc, etc etc.

When you say this baby is the beneficiary of a miracle, are you saying this in the Humean sense–that natural laws were suspended (by a deity of some kind, perhaps?) We’ve never seen proof of that, and there’s a perfectly logical, natural explanation for why the kid’s ok–to wit, the pencil didn’t hit an artery or his spine. Or do you mean that it’s a miracle simply that because the outcome was so improbable? In that case, what do we call the unlikely event of the pencil getting lodged into his throat in the first place? Is that also a miracle? Also, for those of you who think this “miracle” was the doing of some sort of benign force, I must ask, why not prevent the pencil from getting stuck in the child’s throat in the first place? Seems to me that would’ve been even more benign.

All this talk reminds of people who, for example, point to the sole survivor of a plane crash as proof positive of the existence of miracles, while at the same time they ignore the other 300 people who weren’t so fortunate. What was wrong with them? Were they not miracle-worthy?

Sorry folks, “miracle” is simply a term people use to describe a highly improbable outcome which they happen to like.