Miracle on the Hudson

I know that it is old news by now, but I keep thinking about the "Miracle on the Hudson" and God's role in the events. Was it by Divine intervention that the captain was not only a very experienced airline pilot but also owner of an aircraft safety consulting company, a former Navy pilot and a certified glider pilot? Was it the skill, training and calmness of the entire flight crew that prevented serious injuries or was it the guiding hands of angels that laid the plane "gently" onto the water? Did we truly witness a miracle? Should we be praising God for saving those lives?
If the answer is yes, that we should praise God for saving those 150 or so people, what about all those who did not live through similar circumstances? Should we blame God for all the people we lost on 9/11?
When we wake up to a beautiful, warm and sunny morning or sit out on the porch in the evening and bask in the glory of a beautiful sunset, it is easy to send praise to God for those things. But, what do we do when we waken to bitter cold, 3 feet of snow, dark skies, etc? If we give thanks for the glorious evenings, what should we do about the nights that include tornado warnings, bolts of lightning taking down trees and giant hail balls putting dents in our cars?

The day after the plane came down, I was listening to Glenn Beck on the radio, as I will sometimes do. He made some interesting observations that I want to repeat. The plane hit the water adjacent to the New York media centers, where the entire media could transmit the events almost immediately. It also stopped right beside the ferry terminals, meaning only a few minutes elapsed between the plane coming down and the rescue effort being well under way. The plane floated down river to right by the former home of the World Trade Center. Between these few items and some other things that had recently happened in his life, Glenn Beck realised while on the radio that God was telling all of us that he is here and watching over us (you would have to read the transcript of his program that morning to really understand what lead him to this conclusion). And, is there any significance that this event took place in New York, where the last aircraft related major event began and ended in tragedy.

Maybe the true "Miracle on the Hudson" is not the lives that were saved. Maybe it is that small glimmer of hope, those few minutes of wow, the opportunity to actually care about someone else for a moment that an averted tragedy presents.

I must admit that I have gone through most of my life believing that God doesn't make it a habit of interceding in our lives. I have recently begun to rethink this notion (the miracle on Tahoe?).