Ok, so I'm reading Wendell Berry's collection of essays Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community to answer the title. However, I came across a couple of sentences yesterday that reminded me so much of N.D. Wilson's book Notes From the Tilt-A-Whirl that I just felt like sharing it here.

The particular essay that Berry writes the forthcoming sentences is titled "Christianity and the Survival of Creation." While Berry occasionally tends a little leftist for my liking in his ideas of how Christians should involve themselves in conservation (i.e. – bureaucratic action), for the most part, Berry's thoughts are constructive, Biblical and challenging. Particularly to the current embrace between Evangelical Christianity and the military-industrial economy. That said, here's the portion that I wanted to share with y'all here:

[In nature] we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances will hardly balk at the  turning of water into wine—which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes. (pg. 103)

This is a concept that N.D. Wilson (along with others like Tim Keller and C.S. Lewis) have brought up as well as Berry. We live in an absolutely astounding world. When we compare  the miracles from the Bible to the catalytic miracle of creation we should not be overly surprised in God acting in such ways. It is actually much easier to believe in any miracle if you consent to the miracle of creation.

Each day is filled with "miracles." N.D. Wilson likes to point out that bats really do use sonar to navigate the night, plants really do turn sunlight into food, and caterpillars really do turn into butterflies; these aren't just stories we tell children. If we would heed Christ's admonition to consider the lilies and birds we would be filled with the miraculous wonder that God always intended us to see in His creation.

Food for thought.

Michael