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Monday, March 31, 2014

The Butcher, the Baker...the Candlestick Maker?


This morning I was looking at a candle.  The reason I mention this is that it set me to wondering who got the bright idea for putting a string in some animal fat or wax and setting the string on fire to produce the the light from burning fat...or for that matter who figured out how to take plant fiber and make string or somehow put phosphorous on a stick to make a match.  The list goes on and on.

We love how Fido can fetch or how Patches can open cupboard doors (yes, my cat does that), and we are amazed at the gorilla's ability to repeat sign language to a trainer.  We marvel at dolphins and porpoises as they swim in formation, catch little rings on their noses and jump through giant hoops held above the water (and lets not forget how Flipper saved the day in every episode, right?). I even saw an elephant paint a picture once...of an elephant no less! But we somehow are different.  In spite of how remarkable animals are, they lack the ability to transmit their achievements to following generations or each other.  They have no cumulative "progress."  Animals may be sentient in the sense that they are aware of themselves and the fact that they are somehow different than their environment, but Man is uniquely different from anything else on the planet.

I guess what I'm thinking about all goes back to that candle and its light.  We have a light of intelligence within us that was given to us by the Light of the World.  We are special because we were created by God to be special.  That carries an incredible weight of responsibility on a personal level and on a societal and environmental level.  The deer or the mountain lion can't be blamed for what they do, but we can.

We will be held accountable.

1 comment:

  1. It's all about free choice isn't it? The things we do in life affect us throughout our lives. The question may also be; were we meant to learn these lessons? Could we change the outcome?

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