THE MIRACLE OF THE CARDS

It is rare that an overtly Christian movie airs on television. It is rarer still that a secular critic waxes enthusiastically about the program and concludes we need more of the same, as Dave Mason did in the Scripps-Howard newspaper The Ventura County Star. Originally playing on PaxTV on Saturday, Nov. 10, THE MIRACLE OF THE CARDS is now available on video. It tells the true story about a little 8-year-old English boy named Craig Shergold who was diagnosed with an orange-sized cancerous brain tumor in 1989.

The movie opens with a Boston newspaper editor sending a skeptical atheist reporter named Josh, played by the not-so-skeptical Kirk Cameron, to England to investigate allegations of an incredible miracle. Josh spends his time talking to the doctor, the mother and the medical staff involved in this miracle. Marion Shergold says that, when Craig came down with a cancerous brain tumor, her family were nominal churchgoers but not believers.

Of course, as soon as Marion and her husband, Ernie, found out about the brain tumor, she prayed. The hospital staff discouraged her from holding out any hope. However, a series of miracles kept her pressing forward for healing of her young son. As she was walking by a picture of one of the doctors, a strange light caught her attention and she told her husband that that doctor in the picture, Dr. Middleton, was going to heal her son. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Middleton performed a miraculous operation which bought her son Craig some more time.

However, Craig is extremely weak and seems to take joy only in the get well cards he receives. Marion asks friends to send him get well cards. She tells Craig that the cards represent the prayers of people for him to get well.

The PR person for the hospital says that Craig is such a bright, photogenic boy that he will use feature him in the hospital’s fund-raising campaign. This campaign becomes a worldwide appeal for cards to break the Guinness World Record.

After several hundred thousand cards, the officials at Guinness tell Marion that they have decided not to renew this category, because the receiver does nothing to get the cards. Now, Marion is going head to head against the cancer, medical opinion and the Guinness people.

Unfortunately, the cancer keeps spreading. Dr. Middleton gives up on Craig, as does his father, Ernie. Marion, however, gets another one of her divine revelations and picks a package out of the trash can. The letter is from a millionaire in the United States who wants to help Craig by sending him to the University of Virginia hospital where Dr. Neil Kassel, played by Richard Thomas, is willing to perform a totally new type of operation. The rest is history, and because the history is so well known, MOVIEGUIDE® will reveal that Craig was miraculously cured and is now in his twenties and doing quite well.

The cast and crew for MIRACLE OF THE CARDS are a who’s who of Christians in the entertainment industry. The good news is that the acting and direction are so good that the audience will forget their public persona and get deeply involved in this redemptive transformational story.

There are a few slight flaws in the script. Although most of the shooting is very authentic, there are some scenes that look more like outdoors in Southern California than England. This is quibbling, though, because the entire production works overall to capture and hold your attention.

Furthermore, this movie is extremely Christian, with church scenes, gospel songs, prayers, and references to God. Clearly, it is also trying to reach the skeptic represented by the reporter Josh. In this regard, it does a good job of convincing us that miracles do happen, so much so that the secular reviewer, Dave Mason, says that this is just what the country needs.

In the midst of what are clearly sovereign acts of God, there are a couple of minor moments of confused theology. The mother at some point seems to have a works orientation, that if she does enough, or if enough people pray, God will be forced to heal Craig. In fact, she says as much. Furthermore, this slight touch of works theology has one or two mind over matter references, including the mother telling Craig to say out loud that he is master of his body and commanding it to be well. Needless to say, God is sovereign and cannot be forced to do anything. That basic fact becomes clear in the movie. Again, much of this analysis is nitpicking for those who like to notice such things, because the overall arc of the story shows that we cannot manipulate God or control our healing, but rather are subject to His divine intervention.

THE MIRACLE OF THE CARDS is more than a feel-good movie. It is a witness and an apologetic, and all those involved, including PaxTV deserve to be commended. This is exactly what the nation needs.