The Covenant Penguins - Evolution?
Friday, August 15th, 2008The other day I stumbled upon a website which had a very good movie of evolutionary history in the form of a narrated line drawing. It showed how somehow out of the cosmic primordial glob two cells were somehow miraculously formed who then formed a successive group of cells who then somehow formed something else, and then miraculously turned into something else totally different! I had to laugh. Then eventually all these transitions from one cell to fish to land creatures and birds to monkeys led to man, the highest evolved species, and who knows what comes next? I wrote a comment to the makers of the film thanking them for the entertainment and acknowledging the great amount of faith it must take to believe that somehow some unknown way we sprung up out of that primordial glob. We followers of the Lord Jesus Christ have it a whole lot easier: “And God Created Man in His own image…” “…And God said…”
I saw a good example of God’s intelligent design and purpose this week when we took our grandson to the zoo. We saw all the different animals, but one of the most interesting to me was the penguin exhibit. I found out that penguins are covenant keepers. They have one mate for life. Both the male and female tend to the nest, and guard the egg. When the egg hatches, together they protect and nourish the youngster until he is able to fend for himself. I watched as the zookeeper fed fish to these penguins. They swallow the fish whole, and they ate a lot of fish. Every year they molt and loose their protective feathers during which time they cannot jump into the water. They would die. So they eat lots of fish before molting.
Another thing which impressed me about the penguins is their streamlined efficiency in the water. Their small wings make it impossible for them to fly in the air, but they can sure fly through the water. With few strokes per minute they attain over 20 miles per hour in the water. Their feet are tucked into the streamlined flow as to not cause any drag. As I saw them swim, I thought, “How can anyone believe in evolution when you look at something as purposeful as the penguin?”
We humans could take a lesson from the penguin. God intended for us to have one mate for life, but we have developed into a society which has both “serial polygamy,” and prolific promiscuity. We could learn something about child rearing from these penguins – that it is the task of both the mother and the father. Yet sadly we see so many abandoned children in our world, and single parents struggling to make it work. God has a specific purpose and plan for each of us, but most of us spend our entire lives trying to discover what that is, and never find it. When we do, however, everything fits together like the streamlined form of the swimming penguins.
