True religion consists in annihilating self before that Universal Being, whom we have so often provoked, and who can justly destroy us at any time. The call of the gospel is radical, says Pascal. It requires a death to self. And so even works of awe and wonder in and of themselves are not enough to compel surrender to the Lord Jesus. And that is why when the big crowds formed after he performed miracles, Jesus was not excited (like many today might be), he was suspicious.