Miracles Don’t Have to Stop

Who’s eating the meal worms?   I can’t say.  Every morning I go out and sprinkle a half a gallon of sunflower seeds out on the lawn.  By the time I sit down to work later in the morning the lawn is crowded with squirrels and cardinals and sparrows.  The day before yesterday, out at Lowes in the bird food aisle, the bag of mealworms caught my eye and I grabbed a bag to see just what animals it would attract and yesterday I deliberately choose the concrete slab which is, I believe, the opening for our septic system and sprinkled a cup of dead worms on the slab.  They remained unmolested by the squirrels, and the birds all day long and then, in the morning, they were all gone. 

Rain.  This may have been a factor.  It was windy too. Were they all blown off or had the skunk or somebody come and nibbled them up, under cover of night?  Today I put them back out there.  When I came back from my walk, still day light, the worms are all gone.  Yes, it was windy.  But I don’t think the wind’s what did it.  I’m staring down at the slab now.  I don’t mind someone eating up all that meal, but the bargain has to be that I get to watch. 

Half-way through the New Testament.  What a remarkable contrast to the Old Book.  God kept showing up and berating people in the old Testament.  He is silent in the new Book and speaks through Jesus or after his death, his disciples. The miracles are such a common part of the first four gospels.  It seems to anchor Christ’s legitimacy, each prophet takes labors in the middle of Jesus’ life story to have him return eyesight to the blind and send Satan from a crazy man, off into a heard of swine.  It is a wonderful bookend for the consideration of European Medieval literature.  Miracles don’t have to stop after the annunciation.  In the Age of Bede, the venerable siant is forever finding the devil controlling someone or causing “fake fire.”  Certainly, I was supposed to start the other way around, with more of a grounding in the New Testament before I read accounts of the Venerable Bede.

Getting sleepy.  I think I’ll take an afternoon nap.  I’ve been up since very early.  Nice arrangement with lots of drama, pulling at me all hours of the day and night.  I’ll take a nap before my little one comes home.  She wants help with her paper on the Aztecs and I’ll nod off otherwise.  Ahh, this morning, we finally polished off the last four pages of "Anna Karenina."  We’d been at that for nearly two years.  Levin meditating on goodness, realizing he won’t be in-the-moment of divine benevolence all day long, but it is something that is always there when he needs it, emanating to everywhere. 

Thursday 02/27/20