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08/30/2002 Entry: "Wet and dirty"
I went with my daughter Ruth today to do a spot of 'pond dipping'. You put a net into a fairly unpromising pond, and empty whatever you've caught into a shallow tray of water so that you can have a closer look. It doesn't sound very exciting, but it can be. It's amazing the amount and variety of life that's to be found in a British pond, most of it hidden below the surface. Dragonfly nymphs, water fleas, snails, beetles of various sorts, all kinds of larvae, newts... The list goes on. And every single bit of it really matters, if only to be a meal for some other creature a little higher up the food chain. When you put some of these little animals under a microscope you can begin to appreciate their complexity and beauty.It's possible to argue that this complex system is the product of blind chance and random mutation. Many argue exactly that. For me, the dirty looking pond was a vision of the creative power of God at work in our world. Not so spectacular as a mountain range, not so exotic as a rain forest, less dangerous than a jungle - but maybe in it's very smallness conveying something of the extent to which God loves his creation. After all, if he cares enough to make a dirty little pond in Wales so vibrant and full of life, surely he cares for me.
Replies:
Hunting for newts!! Shame on you Rick! Though I'll admit you have to be a pretty good marksman to hit one from any distance.
:o)
Posted by Richard @ 09/01/2002 07:29 AM CST
My friend Art and I hunted for newts in a stream near his house as youths. A blissful pastime!
I agree with both Swan and Richard, that indeed God created our universe (the time frame being God's and thus ineffable) and that evolution is merely what God set into motion with the creation. In this view the battle between "creation" and "evolution" becomes an utter non-debate. How easily then the two ideas complement each other!
Posted by Rick O'Donnell @ 09/01/2002 01:17 AM CST
Glad you like newts. I've edited the entry and included a picture, just for you.Evolution is a description of the created order as it is. God "drives" evolution as surely as he is responsible for gravity or electromagnetism. The "conflict" between science and faith is entirely a false one.
Posted by Richard @ 08/31/2002 11:43 AM CST
I would have liked to have gone with you. I'm very fond of newts :-)
Here in the US, there is a lot of discussion going on, with "Evolutionism" and "Creationism" being at the opposite extreme ends.In short, my take on this is that evolution is not as random as some want to make us believe, but God basically still uses an evolutionary process to create all these different creatures.
Comments?
Posted by Swan @ 08/31/2002 01:19 AM CST
