“It is all well and good to apply reason to business plans or a mode of education or a voyage to Italy. One must live in the world after all. But reason, when applied to the universe, to the wonders of nature, to the things hidden from our poor eyes that see not at all, but only what the Lord intended that they see—well, that becomes nonsense, doesn’t it?

To say there are no ghosts because we cannot see them, cannot measure them, cannot weigh them upon scales nor note their reaction to heat in a flask—I hardly see the point of such a mode of inquiry. The world is full of wonders that cannot be measured.

That is why they are wonders.”

~ David Liss, The Twelfth Enchantment

I have always wanted to believe in magic. As a child I was beguiled by stories about fairies, witches and (of course) Santa Claus. After years of snark and cynicism, I have come to believe in magic once again, and I see it everywhere I look. It’s not “just” science, some cold pragmatic set of calculations that explain the symmetrical beauty of a spider’s web, the fierce grandeur of a super moon or the gift of meteors streaking through a summer sky. There’s more to it than science.

There are just things we don’t know, and maybe we’ll never know, and probably that’s okay. I will continue to believe that the uniqueness of snow flakes, and the webs of spiders are beyond rational explanation.

Because I don’t know different, or better, and neither does anyone else.

And here is proof:

Want 15 free additional reads weekly, just our best?

Get our weekly newsletter.

Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photos:  Alexey Kljatov on Flickr