“Nothing is rich but the inexhaustible wealth of nature. She shows us only surfaces, but she is a million fathoms deep.”       Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here I am still camped out in Huntsville State Park, with my stack of books, seeking truth, and talking to a deer who had appeared before me and who was, with apparent authority, lecturing me in religious matters. Its air of authority seemed to grow with each revelation that it made to me. I continued to wonder who or what it was.

“Where is God,” I asked the deer. “Why doesn’t He show His presence like He did in the Old Testament when the liberated Hebrews fled Egypt and Pharaoh? He sent plagues to Egypt to force Pharaoh to release them. He protected them with a pillar of fire, parted the Red Sea, destroyed Pharaoh’s pursuing chariots, gave them commandments, and miraculously provided water for them from a rock in the desert. He guided them through the wilderness to the promised land – a land of milk and honey. Why doesn’t He do things like this anymore?”

“Simple,” the deer replied. “It didn’t work. After all He did for them, the Hebrews still turned their backs on Him and on Moses and forged a golden calf to worship in place of the true God. Even after He destroyed the worshipers of the golden calf and led the loyal Hebrews through the desert, they still complained. After they settled in the promised land to which He brought them, they later built pagan temples for the worship of the false gods collectively known as Baal instead of worshiping the True God in the Temple in Jerusalem. And, guess what pagan idol they placed in many of these temples – a golden calf! My God, they hadn’t learned anything?”

The deer continued. “Ultimately, things got so bad that God allowed the Babylonians to wipe out Jerusalem, destroy the magnificent Temple that King Solomon had built, and enslave the Jewish people. It would be 70 years before they would be allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. So, all of the miracles that God performed for the Hebrews in the Old Testament simply did not work to make them loyal and devoted worshipers of the True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. They still turned their backs on Him and sinned terribly.”

“God changed His approach,” the deer revealed. “He provides for humans, in more subtle but no less miraculous ways. He is ever present – everywhere and He shows His presence - if you will only look for it. He is on the highest mountain top and in the deepest valley. He is on the land and in the ocean. He is on the Earth and at the same time He is present throughout the universe. You can see His works everywhere. He is in the worst slum and in the wealthiest neighborhood. He is in every prison. He sent His only son to be like the humans He was trying to embrace and teach them by being one of them.”

“But, His creations are not perfect. People get sick. Everything eventually dies. Why doesn’t He do something about this?” I queried.

“How do you know that what you call death isn’t the perfect end to the journey of earthly life?” the deer answered. “It is merely the way that God calls souls home. When you think about it, everything that God created and continues to create is a miracle. Take a flower for example. God takes dirt, water and sunlight and makes a plant that produces a beautiful flower which not only provides a beautiful thing for your enjoyment (and a reminder of the presence of God in that flower) and which can reproduce the plant that made it so that the new plant can make still more flowers. Amazing isn’t it? But, the flower must first die and become seeds before it can bring forth more flowers.”

“I can’t help thinking about my uncle who died of cancer - a painful death not only for him, but for his family and loved ones. Why can’t God give us the cure for cancer?” My question was born from the heart of my doubts about the presence and even the very existence of God.

“God has given humans the mental capacity to conquer many of the forces of nature; but, certainly not all.” The deer then issued a warning. “If humans were unfettered in their ability to cure every disease, and control every storm and force of nature, the world as you know it would not last long. If there were no death, the Earth would soon be overrun. Without the forces of nature churning and swirling in their dance of constant movement and change, the Earth would be struck with maladies that you cannot imagine. Humans do not know and have not the capacity to know all things and certainly cannot fathom the complex dynamics of fluids and the mechanics of solids and of matter not yet even known to humans. These forces that occur in multiple dimensions keep the Earth spinning - but not flying apart. They work to keep the crust of the Earth intact and the plasma in its core in place - but release a small portion of it when necessary - and keep the Earth alive. Some ruptures and violent movements of air, earth, and water are necessary for the greater good of avoiding a complete catastrophe. These ruptures cause death to many and great destruction of property; but, they have to happen.”

The deer’s revelations were discouraging to me. Are humans really so limited?” I wondered. “Must we suffer hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, and floods? Must we suffer diseases like cancer that bring us death?” The deer could sense the misgivings that I was experiencing; so, it offered a measure of solace.

“Through the genius of those magnificent brains that God gave humans, cures and preventions for many, many diseases have been found. Fantastic diagnostic and surgical tools have been constructed to aid in the search for healing solutions. As for cancer - with which you have a particular concern - I will reveal a glimpse of the future to you. A complete cure and prevention technique will be found. The basis of cancer has thus far eluded the human mind; but, it will not remain undiscovered. It is mathematical – a part of a developing area of mathematics which will become known as ‘chaos theory’. When this fact is realized, a cure will be devised. Then, there will be devised a method of preventing it.”

The glimpse that the deer gave me into the future comforted and energized me. It gave me hope that all things would get better. Even cancer one day would be no more.

“But, be assured…God is in charge and He knows what He is doing,” the deer assured me. “He is not only the creator of the universe but the preserver of it. Humans often think that they know better and want things to be as they see fit. They place themselves on a plane equal to God Himself and want to act as a god and tell
God what to do.”

Then the deer laid down a mock challenge to me. “I will give you all the equipment you want – computers, chemicals, materials, machines – anything that you want. I will give you anything except a seed - for that is God’s instrument of creation. Then, I will say to you ‘make me a flower’. Can you do it?”

The answer was, of course, obvious. “No… I am not God,” I humbly confessed.

“Right!” the deer exclaimed. “And neither is any other human being. Jesus was both human and divine, but that’s it – no one else.”

“God performs an incalculable number of miracles each and every second,” the deer expounded. “Every beat of your heart is a miracle. Every sunrise, every change of seasons, every drop of rain, and every flower that blooms is a miracle of God. His Son performed many miracles during His brief stay in human form. Then, there was and is the greatest miracle of all – His resurrection which brought the hope of eternal life to all humans. God’s presence is all around you; but, you must open your eyes and your mind to experience it.”

The deer looked at me straight in the eyes. “The fullness of experiencing God’s presence in everything is the only thing that will lead you to true happiness and contentment.”

“I don’t think that I have ever appreciated God’s creations that way that I should – as miracles,” I confessed. “But, sometimes,” I pondered, “I just don’t feel God’s presence. I don’t feel close to God.”

“So… you don’t feel close to God. Who moved?” The deer went right to the point. I instantly knew the answer to its question, and… I felt ashamed.

NOTE: The dialogue in this article was constructed from the impressions I received during my encounter with the deer and do not represent actual conversation. The gift of Wonder and Awe that I gained that night was, however, very real.

Links to all of Bob’s columns, including Parts I-VII of this series, can be found at www.newsnet713.com/BobConnor.htm.