Read Online The Merlin Effect by T. A. Barron - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: T. A. Barron
Ads: Link
seen,” answered Isabella, examiningthe collection of petri dishes. “What feels like an ending might turn into a beginning.”
“That sounds nice, but life doesn’t really work that way.”
Isabella’s mind seemed to drift somewhere else for a moment. After a while she said, “Maybe you’re right. Our sorrows and our joys do stick with us. Especially our sorrows, it seems.” She shook her head, as if trying to banish some unwanted memory.
Then, motioning for Kate to come nearer, she pointed to one of the petri dishes. “There is another side, though. Do you see this little dish? Only yesterday, I put a single cell in it. Now look at it. Multiplied into thousands of new cells already. All from that first microscopic dot.”
With a shrug, Kate said, “I don’t get it.”
Isabella pondered the petri dish for a moment, then tried again. “Something that has always fascinated me about evolutionary biology is that the process never ends. Life keeps growing, changing. Every spiral of DNA is part of the greater spiral of life, a spiral that goes on and on forever. Have you ever thought about that?”
“No.”
“Well, to put it another way, you might say
all the future lies within the present.
In other words, the very first single-celled creatures that appeared in the ocean held in themselves all the possibilities of evolution. They were the simplest life you could imagine, more water than organism. I call them
water spirits.
And yet they contained the seeds of fish, dinosaurs, and even humans. Small as they were, they had all the power of creation.”
Kate waved at the little wooden altar. “I thought you believed God created everything.”
“I do,” she replied. “Like a good Catholic. And I believein evolution, too. It’s just one of God’s tools to keep life from getting stagnant. Creation is an ongoing process, as I said. And the best part is, you and I are part of it. You still have in yourself all the possibilities of the water spirit.”
Kate stared at her blankly, then moved to the window.
“You’re not ready yet to hear this, are you?”
“I’m ready,” she responded. “I just don’t believe you, that’s all.”
Isabella moved to the microscope and began sorting through some slides. Finally she came to one that she studied for some time. At length, she exhaled wistfully.
“What is it?” asked Kate, her curiosity aroused.
“Come see.”
Kate peered into the lens, adjusted the focus. “Stars!” she exclaimed. “Stars in a night sky.”
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” grinned the scientist. “They’re microbes, found in a single drop of seawater. Yet from this perspective, they look as big as a galaxy.”
Raising her head, Kate said quietly, “You know what I like best about looking at the stars?”
“Hmmm. How many stars there are?”
“No. How many
spaces
there are. All those empty spaces between the stars. That’s where I can imagine traveling for ever and ever. That’s where I can imagine infinity.”
Isabella gazed thoughtfully at the microscope. “Just as every star is part of creation, so are all the empty spaces between the stars.”
With a nod, Kate turned toward the window flap. She looked beyond the main tent and the wind generator, to the slate blue bay beyond. Numberless rows of gray waves crisscrossed the expanse, broken only by the occasional burst of white where currents collided. “I’ll never forget the sight ofthat whale’s tail, all ripped and bloody.” She watched the water again. “I read someplace that the whalers used to harpoon baby whales, but not kill them, so their screams would bring their parents close enough to get harpooned. Is that true?”
“I’m afraid so. That’s when some gray whales would go wild and try to sink the ships. So whalers called them
devilfish
and the slaughter began. It was a sorry end to a friendship that started out so nicely.”
“Nicely?”
“When the first sailors arrived here on the galleons, the
“That sounds nice, but life doesn’t really work that way.”
Isabella’s mind seemed to drift somewhere else for a moment. After a while she said, “Maybe you’re right. Our sorrows and our joys do stick with us. Especially our sorrows, it seems.” She shook her head, as if trying to banish some unwanted memory.
Then, motioning for Kate to come nearer, she pointed to one of the petri dishes. “There is another side, though. Do you see this little dish? Only yesterday, I put a single cell in it. Now look at it. Multiplied into thousands of new cells already. All from that first microscopic dot.”
With a shrug, Kate said, “I don’t get it.”
Isabella pondered the petri dish for a moment, then tried again. “Something that has always fascinated me about evolutionary biology is that the process never ends. Life keeps growing, changing. Every spiral of DNA is part of the greater spiral of life, a spiral that goes on and on forever. Have you ever thought about that?”
“No.”
“Well, to put it another way, you might say
all the future lies within the present.
In other words, the very first single-celled creatures that appeared in the ocean held in themselves all the possibilities of evolution. They were the simplest life you could imagine, more water than organism. I call them
water spirits.
And yet they contained the seeds of fish, dinosaurs, and even humans. Small as they were, they had all the power of creation.”
Kate waved at the little wooden altar. “I thought you believed God created everything.”
“I do,” she replied. “Like a good Catholic. And I believein evolution, too. It’s just one of God’s tools to keep life from getting stagnant. Creation is an ongoing process, as I said. And the best part is, you and I are part of it. You still have in yourself all the possibilities of the water spirit.”
Kate stared at her blankly, then moved to the window.
“You’re not ready yet to hear this, are you?”
“I’m ready,” she responded. “I just don’t believe you, that’s all.”
Isabella moved to the microscope and began sorting through some slides. Finally she came to one that she studied for some time. At length, she exhaled wistfully.
“What is it?” asked Kate, her curiosity aroused.
“Come see.”
Kate peered into the lens, adjusted the focus. “Stars!” she exclaimed. “Stars in a night sky.”
“Remarkable, isn’t it?” grinned the scientist. “They’re microbes, found in a single drop of seawater. Yet from this perspective, they look as big as a galaxy.”
Raising her head, Kate said quietly, “You know what I like best about looking at the stars?”
“Hmmm. How many stars there are?”
“No. How many
spaces
there are. All those empty spaces between the stars. That’s where I can imagine traveling for ever and ever. That’s where I can imagine infinity.”
Isabella gazed thoughtfully at the microscope. “Just as every star is part of creation, so are all the empty spaces between the stars.”
With a nod, Kate turned toward the window flap. She looked beyond the main tent and the wind generator, to the slate blue bay beyond. Numberless rows of gray waves crisscrossed the expanse, broken only by the occasional burst of white where currents collided. “I’ll never forget the sight ofthat whale’s tail, all ripped and bloody.” She watched the water again. “I read someplace that the whalers used to harpoon baby whales, but not kill them, so their screams would bring their parents close enough to get harpooned. Is that true?”
“I’m afraid so. That’s when some gray whales would go wild and try to sink the ships. So whalers called them
devilfish
and the slaughter began. It was a sorry end to a friendship that started out so nicely.”
“Nicely?”
“When the first sailors arrived here on the galleons, the
Similar Books
