Why would it just stop?

On the bus, I always like to sit in the back. That’s where everything happens. If I’m in the furthest seat, all the way back in the corner, it’s also warm, a good place to keep an eye on the action, or to sleep to the vibrations of the engine.

I was in the back of the 358 one day, or maybe the 194, one of those old Metro routes that you might find anyone and everyone riding. Somewhere though Pioneer Square or downtown, there were a couple of just about to fall down on their luck, or maybe just bouncing back up guys talking religion. They were discussing miracles, out loud for all to hear. I had studied religion all twelve years of Catholic school. In college, I studied philosophy. My ears are always ready for a metaphysical debate.

The first guy insisted the miracles as described in the bible had absolutely happened. The second guy wasn’t buying it. Suppose there had been all of that water into wine, summoning of plagues, curing of illness, and raising of the dead back in those days, he said. It’s obviously not happening now; you don’t see any of that. Maybe they each took a swig out of a Rainier in a paper bag and then came the second guy with the kicker, “Why would it just stop.” 

That elegant answer ended the debate but stayed with me. It seemed like a pretty deep thought from a pretty unexpected place, or from anyplace really. If the first guy was going to continue to say there were miracles, he was not only going to have to show that they had happened, he was going to have to explain why they had ceased.

There was a bigger truth that the second guy was invoking. Even if there were miracles, those kinds of miracles anyway, it does not seem likely they will be making a comeback any time soon. Sitting among folks bumping and lurching along on a humble mode of transportation, it seems like we are going to have to rely on each other’s wisdom while we’re on the ride. 


Photo by me 

 

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