Art lovers often visit museums and gaze at masterpieces by the likes of Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas.  Rightfully so, the visitors admire the skill, time, and genius that it takes to transfer the essence of nature, people, or action a stationary two-dimensional canvas.  Other people are fascinated by architecture; admiring the wood, steel or glass frames towering into the sky or fading into the scenery.  It is an amazing talent to fit pieces together to make a beautiful yet functional space for others to live or work in.  

    Personally, computers fascinate me.  I totally do not understand the inner workings, but I know all those tiny little wires, moving pieces, ones and zeroes work together to light up my screen so I can play games, talk to people, post silly pictures....and work.  Someone really smart came up with this stuff!  No question.  That much, I understand.  I think most other people do too.

    But when it comes to the complexities of nature, somehow I'm supposed to believe that it all happened by chance.

    Have you contemplated plants recently?  Stuff flows UP!  Taken in by the roots, minerals & water go against gravity and flow up to the leaves for photosynthesis.  How about clouds?  They produce rain which feeds the plants & animals, supplies rivers & then the water evaporates and the process starts all over again.  A delicately balanced system which supports life as we know it. Animals.  I love animals.  There are all sizes, shapes & colors.  Some, I like.  Some...not so much.  Have you thought about a giraffe recently?  How hard must that heart beat to get blood up the loooong neck to his brain.  Unless he's bent down, on those awkward bony knees, lapping water up out of a river.  Dad informed me this week that giraffes can clean their ears with their tongues! How many animals do you know that can do that?  (I think I'm glad people can't...quick frankly.)  Then there are dolphins.  Another mammal, but they live in water.  And instead of a coarse, hairy, spotted hide, they have a smooth, sleek, rubbery yet highly sensitive skin.  The grins are kind of similar though.   Duck-billed platypus are another favorite of mine!  An egg-laying mammal that looks kind of like it was built out of leftover parts.  A very cute combination though!

   The ultimate combination though is the human body.  Our brain alone is so complex, doctors have spent years studying it and still don't quite understand all its workings. We each have one and yet can't manage to use more than a small fraction of its abilities.  The thumb sets us apart from most of the animal kingdom.  Can you imagine opening a door without it?  Hitchhiking?  (Ok, no hitchhiking.)  Throwing a ball?  

   What about all the highly specialized, precisely balanced systems that work together to keep us living, breathing, and moving?  The circulatory system makes it possible to breathe, the respiratory system makes it possible to move, the digestive system makes it possible to think. if you've ever messed up one little part, you know how much it effects the whole.

  And yet, I'm supposed to believe that these diverse animals, these delicate, precise systems, the stuff that makes up me "just happened."  Poof! Voila! Bang! There it is.  

   This, I do not understand.

   My family is looking forward to camping in the fall & I'm contemplating how many activities we can cram into one three-day weekend.  (Not to mention all the packing, planning, etc that needs to happen before then.)  One thing, I know.  On my next walk through the forest, as I ponder the incredible vastness of the sky, the multitude of shades of green, blue and brown, and the chill of a mountain stream and the multitude of things that live in and around it, I will consider the awesomeness of the One who created it all.  When I come across the Stone Chapel, I will know that it was put there for a reason, designed with great thought and constructed with purpose and labor.   And also every tree, flower and stone that surrounds it.  And me.