Nature and the Miraculous

Everywhere in the world, parents play peek-a-boo with their children. It is a major discovery of life, a cornerstone in human development: To realize that something is there even when you cannot see it, that the world is not defined by your subjective perception, that there is something that absolutely is -- whether you know of it or not.

All our life, all of the world, is G-d playing with us that same game. He peeks with a miracle and then hides behind nature. Eventually, we look behind nature to find Him there.

If He had made the world a complete and utter mystery, we would have no path to know Him. And if all would fit together like a neat and tidy grandfather clock, we would not know that there is anything more to know.

So He took His raw, unknowable Will and cloaked it in wisdom, from which He formed a world. We approach the wisdom only to find ourselves swimming in an unfathomable ocean of wonders.

Now it is within the mind's grasp to know that no thought can grasp Him.

An open miracle is somewhat of a disappointment for G-d. Once all is said and done, He got His way only by ignoring the norms of our lower world. To perform miracles only by bullying Nature is to concede that our world is a place the Infinite Light does not belong.

To make a true impact, He also makes miracles that blend seamlessly into the order of things below.

G-d can do anything. He could even, as the Talmudic saying goes, fit an elephant through the eye of a needle.

So, how would He do it? Would He make the elephant smaller? Or would He expand the eye of the needle?

Neither. The elephant would remain big, the eye of the needle small. And He would fit the elephant through the eye of the needle.

Illogical? True. But logic is just another of His creations. He who created logic is permitted to disregard it.

When the world was made, G-d was left with two lights: A light of boundless energy that encompasses all things and gives them being, but transcends them, and a penetrating light that vitalizes all things but is limited and darkened by them.

The first light is a pure expression of there is none else but He, so from it extend miracles, acts that deny the world any significance.

The second light is an expression of His desire that there be a world, so from it extends the natural order of things, a world of elements behaving as though they are directed by their own properties.

But G-d did not want a world where there are two Powers That Be -- one of Nature and one of Supernature. So He made the two lights to play in harmony, to reveal that they both shine from one Source.

How does He do it? Does He blunt the miracles so they could fit into the natural order? Or does He alter the properties of nature to compromise with the miracles?

Neither. Each element acts according to its natural properties, while miracles of the highest order occur.

Impossible? Plant a seed and watch it grow. Plant good deeds and watch with wonder the miracles that ensue.