Humanity: Ugliest Animal or Beautiful Creation?

This semester hasn’t been awful yet. (Hah. It’s only the fourth day…) Minor detail right? I’m hoping the homework load is going to be like the snow this winter. But I know that’s wishful thinking and that a blizzard is heading my way. Soon.

But anyway. 

One of my classes is an anthropology class. Biological Anthropology to be more exact. APG 201: The Study of Human Origins (aka evolution). Truth be told, I needed a space filler, so basically I closed my eyes and pointed. Honestly, I really didn’t have an idea what anthropology was. (I’d heard it a million times before but as you should know, I don’t pay much attention and I don’t happen to catch on very quick unless I want too.) From the titled I gathered it had to do with human history (I’m so smart right? Haha) So I just enrolled and hoped God would provide the best.

Little did I know, that’s exactly what He was giving me.

The first class went well. We discussed what made us human. What distinguishes us from all other animals on this earth? We were told to pretend to be alien scientists visiting earth and encountering all it contained for the first time. What would we classify humans as? What would we compare them to? The PowerPoint showed a variety of animals for us to choose from. Obviously, we equated them to probably one of the ugliest primates there could be, an Aye-Aye (I believe that’s how it’s spelled). 

Okay, so it’s cute in its own respective way. I’m sure God has created SOME other thing that we could dub “Ugliest Animal.”

Later on that night I decided to be a good student and get my homework done. Our textbook for this class is Biological Anthropology (3^rd Edition), authored by Craig Stanford, John S. Allen, and Susan C. Anton. Having only read the intro and a few page selections from the first chapter, I must say, I’m intrigued. Right away the first chapter deals with the opposition of creationism and intelligent design. The chapter leads to the point that it should not be allowed in schools or be considered alongside evolution because it is not truly science; you cannot apply the scientific method to these theories (Craig et al. 31-33). “A religious belief in a divine creation relies entirely on faith. The sole evidence of this faith in Judaeo-Christianity is the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. Although the Bible is a profoundly important book, its contents are not testable evidence” (Craig et al. 31). 

I’m not going to start arguing my point and I’m not going to try and state scientific evidence against them. I do believe their wrong, that’s just not my goal with this specific post. However, I want to say this; I believe God inspired everything in this world, including science. I believe science is an amazing tool God has provided for us to use to heal people, advance our societies, and even spread His Word. Science can be used for marvelous things, as long as we don’t abuse it and go against God’s will. 

As I diligently did my homework I came across a couple quotes that evoked a feeling of, dare I say, entertainment? No, that’s definitely not it, but I’m not exactly sure which would be correct. 

One quote I would like to counter is this,

“For centuries, people considered the earth to be young and life to be unchanging. Perhaps this is because the reality of evolutionary change is inconceivable to some people. You can’t see it, touch it, or sense it happening in any way, unlike more easily perceived physical laws such as gravity. The 80-year human life span is far too short to watch evolution, a process that typically happens on a scale of thousands of years” (Craig et al. 14).

First off, can I just say this sounds strangely familiar? “You can’t see it, touch it,” (Craig et al. 14). I thought science wasn’t supposed to be based on faith? I thought it was tangible, material stuff to which you can apply the scientific method? Hmm…I think I’m beginning to argue. I don’t want to start making accusations without strong, accurate evidence to back them up. 

To the second part of this quote, about our lives being fleeting and not long enough to see evolution. I refute with the fact that this life is too short to NOT watch GOD in action every day of our “80-year human life span” (Craig et al. 14). 

Yes, I understand that a lot of non-believing scientists aren’t trying to disown religious belief, but believing that God created this world and all it contains is the first step to see Him moving in everything around us. 

Some might say that God is not alive the way He was in the time of the Bible, however, that can be argued. No, there aren’t any pillars of cloud or fire, or horrendous floods threatening our entire humanity, but that wasn’t (and isn’t) the only way God worked. He works in mysterious ways, remember? Through volunteers who go to Haiti and deliver medical help to kids in the mountains. Through a fiction novel portraying the Christian faith in a way never experienced before. Through rescue missions and soup kitchens. 

No, God may not be working in the exact way He did in the Old Testament, but that does not mean He isn’t just as alive today. And it most certainly doesn’t mean He’s not working or isn’t paying attention anymore.

So I’m in this Anthropology class, it’s all about evolution and convincing me that my complete belief system is false. But in retrospect, it’s the best place for me to be. Even though it’s a large class, I might be able to be a light to someone. Also, like I said, I don’t know a ton of evidence to start raising debates and trying to answer questions. What better place to learn? I have to know the other side if I want to help people join mine. 

Oh, and for the record (even though I didn’t say it in class because I didn’t know how to without sounding like that weird girl who thinks “we all have spirits dwelling inside us”), I believe God created each of us individually and gave every one of us a soul. I believe these bodies are temporary, that they will fall away and perish like the rest of the world. But I also believe that our souls will not die, and that nothing but Jesus is going to give our souls the gift of life in Heaven for eternity. 

I believe that is what makes us human. 

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)

SOURCES:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

   Stanford, Craig B., John S. Allen, and Susan C. Antón. Biological Anthropology:

        The Natural History of Humankind. Boston: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.

Loving Elephants

I want to own an elephant.

Why? Absolutely no idea. But I want one. I love them. Always fighting the large cats and the all-time classic labrador retriever, elephants have recently become my favorite animals. If you asked me why, I wouldn’t know what to tell you. Like I said, I have absolutely no idea why I love them the way I do. I just do. 

Yes, I realize that elephants are in fact quite dangerous. Because of that, I understand I probably will never, ever own my own, but I can dream. Can’t I? I can lean back in my chair, sip a hot cup of tea, and think about the success stories of people who have taken in wild animals from birth and raised them to be “domestic.” 

No matter what terror stories I hear about domesticating an elephant (or any other wild animal) or stories about how crazed they can become in their natural habitats. No matter the truth that a single misstep by one could crush my entire body. I can still gaze upon a fantasy that will never become a reality. 

Why?

Because I love elephants.

There are a lot of things I dream about doing. During church this morning the pastor was talking about giving. How much should we give to the church? Is tithing enough? Is tithing still relevant to our lives today? What about besides money? What else should we give away? I starting thinking about how I conduct my life and about all God has blessed me with. I began thinking about whether or not I need all I have or if most of it is just stuff. As I thought, it inspired me to create a bucket list of things I want to accomplish with my life. 

So far, this is what I’ve got (minus the whole elephant fascination);

The Bucket List

1. Give away everything I own to someone who needs it more (at least once in my life)

2. Explore the world

3. Use my writing ability to improve the world in some way, shape, or form

4. Live in a city

5. Live on and maintain a farm

6. Raise a family, by birth or adoption

7. Give everything I am to one man alone - the one God has planned for me

8. Find a place to volunteer (long-term)

9. Live without worldly “basic needs”

10. Become an artist

11. Forget about body image

12. Repay parents for everything they’ve done some way, shape, or form

13. Search God’s will for my life (even on a day to day basis)

14. Be honest in my walk with Christ

15. Give away my money, don’t spend it away

When I was writing this list, it hit me hard how much I’ve stopped giving these days. Sure, I give a small portion of my day to do the dishes for my mom. I try and listen to my friends when they need an ear to complain to or a shoulder to cry on. 

But what else?

It’s not like those are a challenge or sacrifice for me. Of course they’re good to do, but are they actually something I can say I gave?

Here’s when I want to ask the question, is it enough? 

Is it enough to satisfy God? Am I considered a “good Christian” if I continue on doing just these small things?

What could I do that would please God?

Then I stop speaking and I can hear God laughing in the background. I remember then how stupid I must sound, thinking that the things I do decide how God feels about me. 

Grace upon grace. 

God loves me. Period. No matter what. Seriously. Nothing I do can make Him love me any less OR ANY MORE than He does already. And considering He loves me quite a lot already, it’s kind of foolish to think about ways to give in order to gain MORE of His love and admiration. 

So what then?

I keep doing dishes and listening to people? Then I’m good right? Cause God already loves me as much as He could? 

I’m set, right?

Then I hear Him laughing again.

Right…not so easy. 

Once again, God helps me remind myself that YES I should be giving more. Giving as much as I possibly can. But not to earn more of His love. But to show more of MY love for HIM. I know God is always going to love me. He said so in the book of Joshua “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). His love endures forever. As His love flows into me, I can use my actions to be an example of His love, spreading His love to others.

I’ve decided to start giving more. To gain pleasure from giving to others than just myself. God knows that I’ll keep asking “Is it enough?” Before cutting myself off to remember “Grace upon grace,” but He’ll love me the same nonetheless. No matter what I do, I’m His creation, His child. He’s going to stand by me with every dream I’ll check off my bucket list. 

Even though elephants aren’t the safest animals, and there’s no possibility I’ll ever own one, I still love them the same.

How Crayola Prepared Me for College

When I was little, I loved to color. I was that kid who always, ALWAYS had marker on her hands. To the point where people weren’t sure if they were bruises or just remnants from an intense battle with a piece of paper and Crayola products. Whenever I wanted to fill in a large space with only one color, I sectioned the area off into smaller segments. This way, as I colored in each bit, I felt like I was moving faster than I really was, accomplishing more. It seemed easier to me to tackle a lot of smaller tasks than blatantly attacking the entire page with a single marker. 

I use this divide-and-conquer technique a lot. For example, in karate, during test cycles or black belt testing nights. Instead of thinking “We’ve been here for 2 hours, so we have 2 more to go” or “It’s only 6 o’clock and we’re here till 1 AM.” Many will find it’s much less daunting to think of the test in sections. Running, sparring, the random time where only God knows what could happen, and then finally kata. Thinking it through that way, can make it easier to motivate yourself and push yourself harder throughout the test.

That’s kind of how I’m dealing with college.

Instead of saying to myself “Four more years” (technically three and a half by now), I’ll divide it up into semesters. I don’t know why this makes it easier to digest but for some reason I prefer it. Even though I’ve doubled my task to 8 semesters instead of just 4 years. 

8 semesters total. 

1 down.

7 to go.

Now I can say, 1 more, then I’ll be a sophomore. Then I’ll be able to say, 1 more and that year’s almost gone. 

Okay, so I do sort of freak myself out by thinking I could possibly be done with school in that short of a time span. (Breaking it up like that makes it go by faster in my mind)

When I do this, some days, the whole concept of spending almost every weekday at that awful campus doesn’t seem so bad. For one reason, I know God has called me there. Whether He wants be to attend all four years or just through freshman year. In the words of a great band, Circleslide, “I’ll rejoice, though my heart aches.” I may not like it at college all the time, but that doesn’t change the fact God has put me there and given me a chance to spread His love. 

The other reason is that I really do love to learn. Without learning how are humans supposed to move forward?

Improve ourselves?

Succeed?

Survive?

Learning is gaining knowledge, and as everyone always says, knowledge is key. 

However, my divide-and-conquer technique has failed me in one aspect. I still have to physically live through each of those 7 semesters. 

All of those nights of homework.

All of those conversations about people wasting their young adult lives away with drinking and drugs. 

All of those pointless assignments that count for half your grade.

And of course,

All those know-it-all people telling me “You don’t like it because you were home schooled.” 

Thankfully, so far, I’ve gotten most people to agree with me that because I was home schooled, I am, in fact, a step ahead of all those who went through public school. Not because I’m smarter than them, but because unlike a good percentage of them, I know how to motivate myself. I already know that if I waste my time, it’s only my time and my success I’m wasting. 

After thinking all of it over, I remember that I can handle it, that God will be there with my every step, that deep down I know He wants me on that campus to be a light, and that, in fact, there are some students I actually enjoy being around. 

So yes, some days, it doesn’t seem so bad. 

It’s not going to be easy. I sincerely doubt these next 3 and half years (or 7 semesters) will be the best years of my life. But as I divide and color each segment in, it doesn’t seem so terrifying. 

The Solution

First and foremost, I want to note that everything in this blog goes to Jesus. I owe my life to Him. This debt reaches back to before I was born. Starting when He created me and then when He died on the cross to save me from my sins. The debt stretches to when He kept my mom determined to have another child after two miscarriages. Finally, every day that I continue to miss the mark and fall short of the glory of God, my debt to Jesus Christ deepens. For this, I give Him (and only Him) my life as I strive to hand over complete control. 

Sitting in church, as the pastor talked about strengthening your relationship with Christ through prayer, digging through the Bible, and meditating. He said something along the lines of, “What’s the one thing you don’t want to talk to God about? Talk about that first.” It was then that God reminded me that I have a lot to work through.

He also inspired a solution.

I realized that while people keep telling me to talk about what’s going on in my head. To a therapist or spiritual leader. I realized that I really, really don’t want to. I know…that’s probably going to have to happen eventually. For now, I’ll stick with the gift God gave me. Writing. 

For some reason, expressing my thoughts and feelings to the ones I love, and those I trust, just doesn’t work for me. It’s awkward, it’s uncomfortable, I feel silly spilling my complaints out. But also, while opening up my mind for investigation, a wall is constructed so that I never get down to the real stuff. 

(That’s sort of frowned upon in therapy by the way)

Then God whispered another hint. Blogging.

I have two other blogs that I maintain on a on-again-off-again basis, so I'm familiar with how it works. One of them is a poetry blog. There, I’ll post anything. No matter how personal, or honest.

For some unknown reason, I’m much more comfortable spilling my guts and working out my problems to a blog than I am to a person. (I guess a lot of people are like that…) In a way, I guess it’s more private. It’s closer to just me and God straightening things out. Only with a lot of other people allowed to watch.

This blog will be my writing therapy. I’ll probably post once a week (a pace I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep up even during school). Basically, an online, open, honest, journal devoted to helping me think stuff out and to strengthening my relationship with Jesus Christ.