On Thursday, I looked forward to Con Games, a call in radio show, done locally on KNFO. Our dynamic, young President was in London, drawing praise from world leaders. The stock market was crossing 8000. Spring returned to the valley. But, Michael decided to waste, yet another, day on the moot argument of Creationism vs. Darwinism. Russ Andrews opened his call by stating the staleness of this argument that was settled in my Baptist family 75 years ago. My father, a man of the cloth, saw that a primitive people had used Genesis as a creation myth. It was poetry, not to be taken literally.
Well, Russ and I were wrong. The rest of his audience conspired to have an interesting 2 hours. Store front church theology went head-to-head with pulp science and a splendid time was had by all. I hope I take this lesson to heart. I have outgrown Con Games. To ignore such a hopeful day, with Hillary in The Hague to dwell on silly arguments is to ignore the joyous new world awaiting us all.
~Ibby
Hi Jimmy,
[My father, a man of the cloth, saw that a primitive people had used Genesis as a creation myth. It was poetry, not to be taken literally.]
While I’d never pass myself off as a Biblical scholar, I have what some would surely regard a substantial religious education. Your father’s view certainly comports with mine. What I know about Hebrew you could fit in a thimble, but the translation, “And the evening and the morning were” sure strikes me as a poetic refrain. Did I mention I majored in English Lit.?
Anecdotally, my senior year at an unapologetically religious college, I filled an elective with a pre-med zoology class (I posted about this a while back). After a semester of learning Greek, dissecting animals, and embracing scientific principles, our final was a writing assignment: resolve what we’d learned about evolution with our personal faith in God. My professor read my paper at a science convention that summer. I wish I still had a copy of it.
Due to some down-valley interference from another radio signal, I haven’t listened to Con Games for some time now. I find it unfortunate that religion, principally Christianity, remains such anathema to some on the political left—not all, certainly, but enough to count. The Con Man likes to rail against Conservatives for operating from fear, so when I hear a Con Games re-gurge of this subject, I think the Con Man should remove the plank from his own eye first. I’m glad I missed today’s show.
Cheers
TAKIN’ IT TO THE STREETS ala Doobie Brother style
The small community that has been my home-base for the last quarter century now fortunately has a very nice health food store and while shopping one day I was able to give a few fellow humanoids a step-up.
This small community also has a substantial Christian (Horn Creek) resort located along the base of the nearby Sangre de Christo range.
By chance, on this day I was wearing a tee shirt bearing one of my designs. A design created in the desire to bridge the gap between zealots on both sides of the argument.
So as I am shopping I near the end of the aisle near the entrance to the store. Just then a older (yeah right, she was probably more like my age) woman enters the store. I look at her and say hello and she, seeing the front of my shirt she enthusiastically responds “ooh, ooh, turn around, gotta see”.
Now what could possibly evoke this enthusiastic response from a total stranger? Well, on the front of my shirt was printed one word. True, its first letter, the capital C, was a biblical ornate version of the letter c, but it seemed to be the word itself that elicited this… passion.
So what was this singular word printed on the front of my humble tee-shirt. It simply said. Created… followed by three little dots.
Looking to my right I saw the motherly owner of this small shop checking out a couple of her customers at the register so I spun counter-clockwise to show them the back of my shirt on its way to its revealing180 degree turn.
As I completed my south to north turn I let my head continue west until I could again see the faces of shop owner and her customers. I noted the somewhat stifled grins on the faces of the three observers as I waited through an awkwardly pregnant pause before hearing a leaden…..ooh!
Continuing my turn to face this stranger so I could acknowledge and hopefully respond to her obvious disappointment with a hopeful explanation, all I saw of her was her backside as she headed down the next aisle.
Sadly she was, at least momentarily, unable to acknowledge that yes, this planet and all on, it including we humans, were indeed created by what can be universally known as mysterious force.. and commonly called linguistically in one form or another….. God!
This mysterious God-force however has set-up a natural system, or process, that enables all life on this planet to do just as the back of my shirt said… to evolve!
Although no words were spoken between the proprietor, her customers and myself, their broad smiles spoke volumes as to this evolution. As does giving coloreds and women the vote speak volumes to the social aspect of evolution.
Inspiration, revelation, elevation… damnation? Ha! Somebodies gotta have some good, clean evolutionary fun. I’m just hoping the ‘blue light special’ on it is in the salvation aisle. That is where me and my “Jesus (is just alright with me”) will be mysteriously doing my shopping. See ya there?