Incredible.

Fog in Rio. It’s moments like these that blow my mind. Because the average Christian sees it and says “It’s a miracle!” True. The average atheist sees it and says, “It’s an admittedly sweet event, but not outside the realms of good probability!” Also true. So what are we to make of la epicness?

Exactly what I talked about in my last post, How To Convert. The miracle is that we are struck, atheist and theist alike. The miracle is that we care, when no other life-form seems to. The miracle is that we live in a world where it is entirely possible that clouds may roll like hills bearing a Victorious Christ, that we recognize the image, and that we are made speechless by a particular mass of water molecules located in a particular place. In an atheistic world, there is no excuse for awe. Awe is the recognition – however dim – of that which we cannot comprehend. It is a good sign that man was made for more than material clouds and trees, if mere clouds and trees send his mind soaring upwards.

It is a great freedom to realize this. So very often we, as Christians, seek the miracles of God. We seek his intervention in our life, his signs and wonders, his miraculous gifts and charisms. And don’t get me wrong, all of these are Very Good Things. But how often are we like children surrounded by toys and screaming for toys?

The reality is our very being is miraculous. Our intellect and rationality is the bizarre intervention of God. Our ability love is a thing entirely dependent on Him. The beauty in the world is the mark of the Creator, the ever-renewing, ever-renewed breath of the Holy Spirit. Don’t get down on yourself if you’re not experiencing mind-blowing daily miracles: the only difference between your ability to read a book and your ability to walk on water is that people are impressed by the latter.

As a side note, I think the above picture is a pretty good sign that WYD 2013 in Rio is going to be terrifyingly awesome.