“Remember our hypothesis at the outset? Nothing is as simple as it seems. And conversely, everything is more miraculous than we can imagine. There is a name for it: the dandelion principle. ‘To some people a dandelion may look like a weed, but to others the same plant can be so much more [Lulu Miller].’ “- Mark Batterson
“I spent the summer traveling. I got halfway across my backyard.”- Louis Agassiz, Harvard professor (1807-1873)
In Chapter 6j (“Consider the Lilies”) of A Million Little Miracles, Mark Batterson talks about Louis Agassiz, widely considered America’s greatest naturalist of the nineteenth century. Referred to by Henry Ward Beecher as the ‘John Baptist of science,’ Agassiz taught at Harvard University for twenty-five years.
Above all, Agassiz possessed an infamous attention to detail. Hence, his motto: Learn to look. Because, Mark notes, that’s how and when and where the microscopic turns macroscopic. Pastor Batterson observes:
“There are a million little miracles hiding in plain sight. Of that I’m sure. But we must ‘learn to look’ from different angles! When we do, we see new dimensions of who God is.”
In addition, while Agassiz had a holy curiosity about all of creation, he found the jellyfish most fascinating. Because ten thousand species of jellyfish exist. For example, the lion’s mane jellyfish extends its tentacles up to 120 feet. And the box jellyfish carries enough venom to kill sixty humans. But its painful sting actually kills you before the toxin does.
A jellyfish — 98 percent water — represents one of the simplest life forms in the sea. Yet they are one of a million little miracles.
In conclusion, G. K. Chesterton — six feet four and 330 -pounds — viewed the humble dandelion as conclusive evidence that beauty, not just brokenness, exists in the world. Thus, Chesterton woke up to wonder. The dandelion flipped his wonder switch. A common flower everyone sees, but few pick. And even fewer people think about it.
Today’s question: How do you apply the dandelion principle to your life? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Mind and matter, nature and nurture”