What role do the miracles serve in the development of the plot of Peace Like a River ?

I thought you might get another perspective
on Peace Like a River from someone else, but I see no one has
answered you yet so here I am again. The first incident in the novel is a miracle, and
so is the last. In terms of plot, then, miracles are present from beginning to end.
Though Reuben is never sure whether his father asks for miracles to happen or whether
they simply happen without his volition, he is certain that they occur because he
experienced one in the first moments of his life. If one were to diagram the plot of
this novel, one would find that every major action is also marked by a miracle. For
example, Jeremiah is dramatically fired from his job as school custodian (a major life
change), and the man who fired him (because he hates him) is healed of terrible boils on
his face. This is a pattern throughout the work. In the most general terms, anything can
happen in a story which begins and ends with a major miracle.