Take monarch
butterflies for example. I just read a newspaper article about the monarch
butterflies and their annual migration from the U.S. and Canada to their winter
nesting grounds in western Mexico. It said, every fall, tens of millions of these
delicate creatures fly thousands of miles to their ancestral breeding grounds,
creating clouds of butterflies. (Is there
a butterfly drill sergeant that blows a loud whistle that gets them all
together for the trip?)
The
newspaper went on to say the migration is an inherited trait: “No butterfly lives to make the full round
trip, and it is unclear how they find
the route back to the same patch of forest each year.” (New knowledge
to me is that monarch butterflies have a life span of less than a year!)
I remembered
what I earlier wrote about the amazing instincts of birds: “Birds are often
marked by scientists so their migrations may be tracked and studied. And while
we are amazed that adult birds never fail to find their way, we find it even
more remarkable when such feats are accomplished by inexperienced young birds.
As strange as it may seem, many shore birds fly south before their young are
mature enough to make the trip. A few weeks later, young birds that have
never left the nesting area fly in a perfectly straight line to meet their
elders at the wintering grounds.” (*)
Even more
amazing; we are created in the image of God, and we are blessed with so many
things that we should be thankful for – an intellect and will, abstract thinking
skills, communication skills, we are able to question, show emotions, show
creativity – and God has given us a moral consciousness (a moral compass) – and
most importantly, we have been created with a God consciousness!
And, yes, we
can learn something every day.
Let’s be
thankful for it.
(*) Part
taken from the book, Purposeful Design –
Understanding the Creation.
