And
God said, "Let there be waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So
God created the great sea monsters And God saw that it was good. God
blessed then, saying, And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. (NRSV) The theory of evolution has it that life began in the seas - and some theories suggest that birds may be the descendants of the dinosaurs. Although we are not using Genesis as a work of science, it is nice to know that it is not too far wrong on this step in the development of life on earth. The ability of creatures to move through air and water has probably fascinated human beings since they could first think. Humans longed to learn to fly - but we need great machines to do it. We have learnt to swim - but cannot match the grace of fish. We could speak at length (and many do!) about the evolutionary adaptations - the streamlining and bone-structures - that have led to flight and swimming. They are fascinating - and can only increase a sense of wonder that it could ever have happened. And a sense of wonder is the thing we are working on during these weeks. Drinking from the WellspringYou may like to investigate how birds fly and fish swim. You might
like to explore the diversity of the creatures who fly in the air - You might plan a trip to a Sea-Life Centre or a bird sanctuary. © 1998 Wellspring |