Virgin Mary Toast

I played a little trick on one of my roommates on Easter Sunday. The scheming began early Sunday morning as my roommate, her mother and I began gathering all the pots and pans we would eventually need to prepare our Easter meal. With her head still in the cupboard, my roommates mother started laughing and called her daughter, Tracy, to see what she had found. It was a plastic impression of the Virgin Mary-- one that was meant to press into toast and leave an image. My roommate's mother had bought this piece of plastic years ago after the "Virgin Mary" toast went viral over a decade ago. In 2004, a woman named Diane Duyser says she was about to take a bit out of her grilled cheese sandwich when she saw the image below imprinted on the bread. The toast has been preserved since 2004 and the image is still very clear.

The trick was played on another one of my roommates, Farah. While Farah was busy upstairs, my roommate whose house I visited, her mother, and I decided to press Farah's toast with the Virgin Mary stamper and awaited her response. She immediately noticed it! As we all pretended to be consumed in the thousands of things going on in the kitchen, Farah stood paralyzed at the table. I quote her," Guysssssss, do you see this?" "Guyssssss, I see the Virgin Mary. I need to take a picture and send this to my mom!" We couldn't let her go through with this since her mom lives across the world in the Middle East and getting news of this apparition would probably put her on the next flight to the states. The commotion in the kitchen then led several other family members to the kitchen and a full analysis of the toast occurred. 

Why did Farah notice the image within seconds of looking at the toast while Tracy's uncle did not notice any image even after looking at the toast for several minutes. I believe this distinction can be attributed to each individual's culture and worldview. While Farah is a devote and practicing Catholic, Tracy's uncle is not a practicing Catholic. I believe that having faith and practicing a religion that involves mysticism expands the minds of its followers. Faith and worship of a greater being involves entering a different dimension. Therefore, viewing things such as apparitions can be attributed to a moment of cross-dimensionality, in which our physical dimension is crossed with our spiritual dimension. As both a biologist and devout Catholic, this is how I have begun to make sense of my personal world.