Today is the 16th day of Elul, because the sun has already set. Very confusing, because it is still September 2nd. At midnight, the two days will coalesce into one, only to separate again at tomorrow’s sunset.
Our ability to handle two calendars at the same time is only part of the wonder that is the human mind. My daughter is now of an age that she has been asking me where we go when we die – I have to admit that I don’t know. I like to think that my late mother’s consciousness is still around somewhere, amused at the cosmic joke of my daughter being so very much like myself. Yet that joke is a wonder in itself – the face, the voice, the behaviour – not identical because she is, after all, her father’s daughter as well, but shockingly similar at times.
Religion is not really necessary to appreciate the wonder of this gift of life and the perpetuation of ourselves, but it helps organise our response to it, I think. I don’t know whether Judaism is the only religion that has a special blessing to be said upon seeing natural wonders: we bless the King of the Universe who has fulfilled the act of Creation. It is to be said upon seeing a magnificent mountain or a gorgeous sunrise – something special.
Where have you been that justified a special blessing for natural wonders?
Lovely post!!!! I can name many places I’ve been where I’ve stopped short in wonder at the beauty of it. Lately, I’m trying to recognize the million tiny miracles that make up our days. We have a butterfly bush by the front door, and lately we’ve had up to 30 or so butterflies on it at once. They let me get up close and watch them on the blooms, grabbing nectar from each opening. Life itself in all forms is just amazing.
Thanks, Jen! You get it ;-). But then, you always got it, which is why you became a scientist!