Not even Solomon in all his splendor
was dressed like one of these.
—Matthew 6:29
On July 25, 2010, the corpse flower (it emits the stench of rotting flesh) came into bloom at the Houston Museum of Natural Science—only the twenty-ninth time that had happened in the United States. My son and I were two of the more than 3,000 people from around the world who showed up to see this flower that blooms for only two days, once every hundred years.
If that tree outside your window were the only tree in town and leafed out only once a century for only two days, hordes would flock to your yard to see the miracle. But since thousands of trees burst into leaf every spring, it’s no big deal.
We regard one miracle as extraordinary, but a million as ordinary.
There is a miracle in every leaf, every flower, every blade of grass.
Seven Wonders of the World
is a vast undercount.