Living With Dinosaurs
Feb 7th
In 2005, a team of scientists led by paleontologist Mary Schweitzer discovered a femur bone from a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Nothing particularly special about that, until they also discovered that the bone contained intact blood vessels, red blood cells, and other proteins. An amazing find: Tyrannosaurus Rex soft tissue!
But this posed a big problem and challenge to the conventional theories about dinosaurs. Why? Because we know that proteins like the type found in this dinosaur bone degrade quite quickly, and would not be expected to last longer than a few thousands years, even under ideal conditions. Just exactly what had we stumbled upon here?
Then again in 2009, the same team discovered the fossil of a duck-billed dinosaur that also included soft tissue structures such as collagen, elastin, and hemoglobin. Again, no evidence suggests that these kind of tissues can last more than a few thousand years, let alone the 60 million years that have supposed to have lapsed since dinosaurs died out.
The truth is that in fact there is a growing number of scientists that subscribe to “young earth” theory, challenging the long held beliefs that the earth is millions of years old. These scientists claim to have plenty of proof that the earth is in fact only a few thousand years old, and that men and dinosaurs did actually co-exist together at one point in time. It’s fascinating.
Where Is The Right Balance?
Jan 20th
I know I’ve written about this topic a few times before, but it’s something that I’m wrestling with at the moment.
Here’s the thing. On the one hand, there are huge amounts of people that die every day from poverty. The number is around 25,000 people or so, every day. And they die from preventable things like diseases, lack of food and water, and so on.
Now by Australian standards I’m not rich. My income is below the national average, and my house is at the cheapest end of the scale. But even so, I have enough money locked up in my lifestyle (in my home equity and my possesions) to save tens of thousands of people. If I unlocked some of that money, there is no denying that I have the ability to save so many people. I might be below average by Australian standards, but by world standards I’m in the top 1% of richest people (check where you are - visit www.globalrichlist.com and enter your annual income).
But on the other hand, God placed me in Australia. I was born here, this is my home, and the fact of life is that it’s expensive to live in Australia. The cost of living is high, and it takes a lot of money to live in an average home, put my kids through school, and live life. So I shouldn’t feel guilty about the cost of living a normal life in my home country.
But there’s a tension there. No matter how I look at it, every day that I continue to live this comfortable life, I am choosing to let people die. People that I can help. No matter how much I try to explain it away, if those people were standing in front of me today, my answer to them would effectively be: “I wish you well. But I’m choosing to have a nice dishwasher and surround sound entertainment system, rather than help you”. Surely I can do better than that?
So I’m wrestling with where the right position is for me. At the moment, rightly or wrongly, I feel like I have time to make the decision, because I currently still have kids living at home, and my role at the moment is to provide for them. But they are teenagers now, and in a few years when they’ve left home, all bets are off. I have no idea what I’ll end up doing then, but it will be interesting. And in the meantime, I’ll continue to wrestle with what’s the right thing to do.
Life Is Messy
Jan 20th
We used to have a dog called Rosie. She was a great dog, she loved people, and was an enthusiastic part of the family.
But dogs are also messy. Part of the cost of having a dog in the family is cleaning up after them, sometimes they bark excessively, they sleep on the good furniture when you aren’t looking and make it dirty, they eat your best pair of shoes, they dig holes in your garden, and when you need to be away from your house for a while, you need to organise someone to care for them.
I never really liked this “messiness” about having a dog, and I used to think that when Rosie eventually died, it might be nice to not have a dog, and not have to worry about all that stuff anymore. I loved Rosie, but in those moments when she made be angry because she slobbered all over my biscuit I was just about to eat, I would sometimes think about not having a dog one day, and how it would be nice to not have to deal with the “mess”.
And then one day Rosie did die, quite unexpectedly, and I was surprised that I missed her much more than I thought I would. I miss her joy, love, and enthusiasm she had for me every time I came home from work. And while I do enjoy not having to deal with all the mess that comes from having a dog, the tradeoff is that I don’t have all the good things to enjoy either.
Life in general is like that. If I want to, I can disengage from life and from people, and avoid some of the “messiness” of life. Life can be complicated. People can be messy. Engaging with people can bring things into your life that cause discomfort. But by removing yourself from life and people, you also miss out on the soaring highs that come from real relationships and intimacy.
Life is messy. But I’m learning that diving into the mess and sharing it with people brings a much fuller life than trying to pull back and live a quiet life on your own.
Be Still And Know
Jan 12th
Somewhere around 900BC or so, God is recorded as saying to the Israelites: “Be still, and know that I am God”.
It’s always fascinated me that a God who created the universe, whose power exceeds our wildest imagination, should choose to reveal himself not with loud shouts and incredible signs, but in a quiet whisper. Many times we are told to listen for his small voice in the stillness of life.
Have you ever got up real early before the rest of the world is awake? Before cars are driving on the road, before people are walking down the street? When was the last time you did it?
The other day I woke up early for some reason. It was getting light, but there didn’t seem to be another soul awake for miles around me. It was silent. And sitting there, looking out over the world, all I could hear was myself breathe. And the world looked very different. Away from all the chatter and noise of our 21st century lifestyle, my mind was cleared and turned to more important things in life. Eternal things.
If you haven’t done it for a while, I really recommend it. Get up early, or just go and find a quiet place somewhere. A really quiet place. And listen. If you’re bold, even ask God if he’s there. It will be worth it.
And So This Is Christmas
Dec 20th
Christmas means different things to everyone. For some it’s about spending time with family, for others it’s about a holiday, for others it’s about presents, for other’s it’s about celebrating the original story of Christmas. And for some, it may even be a time that reminds them of their loneliness.
When I was a kid, Christmas was 100% about the presents. As far as I was concerned, some dude in a red suit would travel the world and deliver presents to everyone. Cool. I didn’t really think too much about why he would do that, but thinking back on my childhood I can still clearly recall the butterflies of excitement in my stomach as I went to sleep on Christmas Eve.
Then as I grew older I started to feel more and more unformfortable with the commercial side of Christmas. I saw us a nation spending billions of dollars on ourselves, in many cases buying trinkets for each other that we don’t really need. And I started to appreciate just spending time with my family, rather than appreciating the photo frame or car washing kit or whatever else they gave me that I didn’t really need.
Don’t get me wrong, presents are a great part of Christmas, and are a way of showing we love each other. But if I went down the shops now (5 days before Christmas), I know I’ll see a bunch of people in a grump, yelling at their kids and filling their trolleys with trinkets for people because that’s what you do. They’re sometimes buying a novelty beer glass or a joke book for uncle Bob not because they really want to, but because that’s what’s expected.
For me, Christmas is now all about celebrating with people. And what am I celebrating? Being alive, knowing each other, sharing life with one another, and remembering one of the most amazing events in the history of our planet, when it was spoken:
“Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy, that will be for all the people! Today, a saviour has been born to you”
Like I said at the start, Christmas means different things to everyone. But whatever it means to you, make sure you take the time to sit beside someone and be real. When you’re about to die, you won’t wish that you bought uncle Bob a better novelty beer glass or joke book, you’ll wish you’d made the most of that opportunity to sit beside him with a drink and experience life together.
Have a great one.
We’re All So Different
Dec 13th
A few months ago on my way home from work, walking to my car, as usual I cut through the shopping centre carpark.
As I walked through the carpark, I noticed about 50 metres away a man standing very close to the back of a car, almost leaning against it. His stance looked strange, and as I got closer, I realised he was actually urinating against the back tyre of this particular car – all out in the open for everyone to see.
Thoughts raced through my mind. Should I confront him about it? Is he drunk? Will he pop me one in the face if I say something to him? There’s children around, this is a public place, you can’t do that. Some poor person is getting their car urinated on! I think I might just turn left and go that way…
But then as I got closer, the strangest thing happened. He finished his business, then got into the car and drove off. It was his own car! This guy had decided “I’d rather wee on my own car in full view of the everyone, than use that public toilet over there”.
I spent my trip home thinking about that guy, and how we’re all so different. Never in my wildest dreams would I consider just going to the toilet where I felt like it. But some people obviously think very different to me. And I was again amazed at just how different we all are, and how we all have our own perspectives and different life circumstances.
Another guy who reminds me of that is Mr Sitting-On-A-Chair-In-The-Middle-Of-India man. When I was a teenager I went to India for a few weeks. As part of a study tour we went to some town in the middle of nowhere, and were touring around the back streets, looking at every day life in India. There were thousands of people milling around the place, but on one particular back road alley, there was one guy who caught my attention for some reason. He was just sitting on an old chair, next to his corrugated iron hut thing, watching the world go by. I only saw him for a split second as we drove past.
I saw hundreds of thousands of people like that, but sometimes I think about that man in particular. As I go about my hectic life, is he still sitting in that chair, down the backend of a maze of backstreets? What’s his life story? How is his life different to mine? What does he do all day? Is he still alive? Does he have family? What are his hopes and dreams? And like him, there 6 billion other life stories going on at the moment.
Life has so many variations, so many different stories. We’ve all got a unique tale to tell.
So thankyou Mr Weeing-On-My-Own-Car man. You’ve reminded me again about the amazing variety of life all around us.
Australia, The McMansion Homeland
Dec 1st
Well, it’s official. Australian’s now live in the world’s largest homes, at a staggering average of 214.6 square meters (2,310 square feet).
And as if that statistic wasn’t bad enough on it’s own, here’s another one that comes with it. The average number of people living in these extraordinarily large homes? 2.56 people.
What I’m about to say, I also say to myself, so please don’t think I”m judging people, but:
PEOPLE ARE DYING
It’s really easy to just gloss over that statement, especially when it’s a thousand miles away, so I’ll say it again.
PEOPLE ARE DYING!
I know that we don’t have the resources to help them all, but we do have the ability to save many of the 26,000 people who died today from poverty related conditions (lack of food, lack of clean water, preventable diseases, etc).
And yet, because it’s not in our face, it’s so easy to ignore, and continue to fill our homes with plasma screens, dishwashers, dryers, air conditioning, blu-ray players, expresso machines, and the like. We’re becoming addicted to comfort, including bigger homes.
I think it’s healthy for us to have a think now and then about what we would say to some of those 26,000 people who will die tomorrow from poverty. What would we say? Because perhaps what we’re already saying now is, “it’s more important for me to have a 950 watt food processor so I can dice my carrots faster, than to help you”.
I’ve said it before, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us enjoying the blessings we have, but sometimes I think we can become unbalanced in this area, and forget our responsibilities to those who are suffering.
Such Is Life
Nov 25th
It’s late Spring here, and there is new life everywhere. There are trees in our backyard that only 2 months ago had lost all their leaves, you would have sworn they were dead, and now they are covered in fresh new green growth and fruit. Animals and insects are out and about everywhere, and the air is filled with the chirping of baby birds. Our house seems to be surrounded by birds nests, full of little baby birds of all types.
One nest in particular, along our driveway, is a tiny nest, maybe only 5cm across, and is home to some kind of small “finch” type of bird and it’s three babies. We found it before the eggs even hatched, and since that time have checked on it every few days, carefully peering through the branches to see it’s progress. One day there were three tiny little babies in there, and over the last couple of weeks we’ve watched them get bigger and bigger, as the mum goes out and gets them food.
But yesterday morning when we went to take a look at the nest, to our surprise it was missing. And then upon closer inspection we found it, upturned and fallen down into the lower parts of the bush. Looking at the surroundings, a whole bunch of shrub branches directly below the nest have been crushed, snapped, and pushed over, and it seems pretty obvious that some animal, almost certainly someone’s cat, has attacked the nest and devoured the growing babies. Who knows if mum met a similar fate, or if she got away. I don’t know if birds feel sorrow like we do, but it feels sad to think she may still be around, mourning that loss.
Of course, this is nothing new. Every day, death and killing happens millions of times around the world, as it has every day for thousand of years. It’s a sad fact that we live in a broken world, where living things kill and eat each other to survive, or sometimes even just kill for other reasons. Death is a part of life, and will be until all things are made right again.
But this incident does remind me that death can come so quickly, and is rarely expected. I still remember waking up one morning as a 14 year old boy to find my father had died. It was of course the last thing I was expecting, and it changed my life in ways I still don’t fully understand.
Life is precious, and fragile. Remember that the people around you can be here one day and gone the next. Don’t put off anything you can do for them today.
Enjoy Chocolate Again
Nov 11th
In August of this year, Cadbury Australia announced that they plan to have Fairtrade Certification for their dairy milk chocolate by Easter 2010.
This is amazingly good news, from such a large producer, which will see the amount of Fairtrade products sold in Australia more than triple! This will allow more cocoa farmers in Africa to sell via Fairtrade, which will help improve their living standards, reduce child labour, and create a better future for their families and community.
Fairtrade certification means that the certification body (FLO-Cert) independently audits and monitors the supply chain to ensure that certain standards are met which encourage fair prices, environmentally sound farming practices, social development, and protection of workers. It’s estimated that at the moment, more than 200,000 children work in the cocoa fields of the Ivory Coast alone, some in slavery.
Cadbury really should be congratulated on making this decision. To contact them and say “good on ya”, visit here.
And to find out more about Fairtrade, visit www.fairtrade.com.au.
Coming Of Age
Nov 8th
The other day I saw a post on Facebook, quoting Sigmund Freud, which goes something along the lines of:
Religion belonged to the infancy of the human race; it had been a necessary stage in the transition from childhood to maturity. It had promoted ethical values which were essential to society. Now that humanity has come of age, however, it should be left behind.
Several people commented on this post, approving it, claiming it was such an enlightened statement, and how dumb you must be if you don’t agree with it.
But one line in particular from the quote made me almost laugh out loud when I read it: Now that humanity has come of age, however…
Come of age!? On basis does anyone think that we’ve “come of age”? Most generations tend to think that they’ve come of age. They’re much smarter and more enlightened than previous generations. They know so much more. They’ve learnt from the mistakes of their predecessors. They’ve made significant advancements into science and the understanding of life and the universe.
But we’re deceiving ourselves if we think we’ve “come of age”. We still don’t know much about the universe and what goes on around us. We still hurt each other, kill each other, and do things we don’t understand. What we want to do, we don’t do. And what we don’t want to do, we keep on doing.
No matter what achievements or advancements we think we make in unlocking the mysteries of life, usually each discovery produces a bunch of more unanswered questions. Rather than pride ourselves on our coming of age, we should humble ourselves and realise we don’t know all that much really, we often get it wrong, and our understanding of things doesn’t even come close to the infinite wisdom of the creator and designer of all that’s around us.
Life’s a great adventure! Let’s marvel at it, even the things we don’t understand, but let’s never try and claim we know how it all works.
