Jesus’ resurrection was indeed a miracle; however, Jesus’ resurrection needs to be more than a miracle. It needs to be normal . . . every day . . .how we live and breathe; with resurrection power. --- Curtis Almquist, SSJE.

I recently read The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World (Harper Collins, 2019) by Patrick Svensson. I didn’t know much at all about eels, and although they are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, I can’t imagine eating them.

Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question.” Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery.

Patrick Svensson draws on a breadth of research about this endangered species in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, to unlock some of the mysteries about this paradoxical creature. Blending memoir and nature writing, Svensson’s journey to understand the eel also delves into issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all—death.

Inexplicably, eels have the ability to rise from the dead. Svensson cites a number of examples of eels that were seemingly dead, but came back to life again. He writes that he is the kind of person who chooses “science over religion, the rational over the transcendental, but the eel makes that difficult. For anyone who has seen an eel die and then come back to life, rationality isn’t enough . . . An eel can die and live once again.”

His father would seem mildly delighted when he would say, “They’re odd, eels.” It was like he needed the mystery of the creature. “As though it filled some kind of emptiness in him. And I let it sway me, too. I decided that you find what you want to believe in when you need it. We needed the eel. The two of us wouldn’t be the same without it.”

Reading the Bible later, Svensson came to realize that this is exactly how faith arises. “Having faith is to approach the mystery, that which lies beyond language and perception. Faith requires you to give up part of your logic and rationality.”

Svensson reflects on the words of Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians where Paul declares that anyone who seeks faith cannot rely on rational argument alone. “If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). Anyone who seeks faith must dare to become a fool, and only a fool can believe in miracles. As evidenced by the response of the apostles when Jesus walked on the water (Mt. 14:22-33) and stilled the storm (Lk 8:22-25), miracles are awesome but at the same time terrifying to behold.

Although he has never been able to believe in miracles, Svensson can understand why others might chose miracles over ongoing uncertainty. “Having faith is giving yourself over to something . . .And the promise of the Christian faith, what awaits anyone brave enough to become a fool, is the biggest of all promises.” The promise of eternal life through the resurrection as the most important miracle of all: “Without it, faith becomes meaningless. Faith can’t be only about this life; it has to transcend it.”

He goes on to say that “only a fool would believe in the resurrection, but I’ve sometimes wished I were a fool, and I think Dad wished for the same thing.” So what is resurrection? Literally it means a person, or an eel, can die and live again, but Paul talks about something more. Death is inevitable, but death isn’t the final ending, it is a metamorphosis.”We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51).

“You don’t have to believe the miracle to believe the meaning of the miracle. There are many ways to be a fool. And you don’t have to believe in the Gospel (or the eel) in a literal sense to believe what is at the heart of their message: Those who die stay with us in some form.”

Svensson goes on to relate the death of Nana who believed in God, but he and his Dad did not. However, when Nana was dying, “I sat by her side and she cried and said, ‘I will always be with you.’ And I obviously believed her. I didn’t need to believe in God to believe that.

“And that is, at the end of the day, what Jesus promises his followers. ‘I am with you always, to the close of the age’ when he reveals himself to his apostles, three days after his death.

“And this is, of course, what we hope for when we believe. Whether in God or an eel.”

This book was recommended to me by my daughter, and I initially read it to learn something about eels. The writing is excellent, and I came away with great appreciation and awe for this enigmatic animal which, like so many other species, is now endangered. What I didn’t count on was fresh insights about faith, miracles and resurrection. May we all have the courage to be foolish enough be believe in miracles and resurrection— in whatever form. I encourage you to add this book to your reading list.

Easter Blessings.