Here is Durrell, in an unpublished scrap of memoir, on the four years he spent as a child in prewar Corfu. “Leaf to bud, caterpillar to butterfly, tadpole to toad or frog, I was surrounded by miracles. I was surrounded by magic as though Merlin had passed through and casually touched the island with his wand.”
That reminds me of an early childhood memory, that I may have blogged before. I must have been four years old. We, us children of the post WW2 baby boom years, were playing hide and seek in a hay meadow, right next to our council flats. We played out all the time then, and must have driven the poor farmer, trying to make a living, mad.
I can remember lying there in a forest of tall grass, watching the insect life going on around me, wonderful colourful little creatures, all so busy with their lives. I felt as if I was in the Fairyland of my story books. So the wonder of the creation got right to my heart. I saw it for the miracle it was.
But then, as time wore on, I was in "the world", and was taught at school that we found God in Church - in interminable and boring Latin masses - and that in any case Genesis was just a "creation myth".
In contrast, my parents always loved the beauty of the creation, and gave up on mass and church.
It wasn't until I was in my late thirties that I began to seek for the Creator of it all. And Jehovah let me find him. As he will to all who seek for him. But it is urgent to do it now.
The photos above are from Col's gallery - a Spotted Fritillary caterpillar and its butterfly. What else is that transformation but a miracle in plain sight?
The weather continues overcast, on the whole, and damp - and too warm for the time of year.
And today - talking of miracles - I am visiting a long time call of Jean's who has said that she would actually like to start a Home Bible Study. I am hoping that she does mean it, as we had been calling on her for many years, and I had kept in touch since Jean fell asleep in death.
Jean would be so thrilled to know this.
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