August 4, 2022

Zoology 101 was a favourite first-year course at the University of British Columbia. My class probably had 250 in it, enthralled by from Dr. Ian McTaggart-Cowan’s witty and profound explanations of what animals were, and how they related to each other -- ever since eukaryotes found a better way of reproducing than procaryotes. 

            In case you’re wondering, eukaryotes mated; procaryotes split. 

            As I recall those classes, McTaggart-Cowan talked more about animals than plants. Certainly it’s the animals I remember. Everything from single-celled amoebas to humans. 

            A lot of it dealt with taxonomy – the formal classifications of animals. That we humans, for example, are a species, Homo Sapiens. Of the genus Homo. Of the family Hominidae. Of the order Primates. Of the class Mammalia. Of the phylum Chordata. Of the kingdom Animalia. Of the domain Eukarya.

            Which takes us right back to the beginning. 

            Taxonomy, however, doesn’t answer the question, “Why?” 

            Mammals, for example, all have live births. They don’t lay eggs, which will eventually hatch. Why did we choose to do things differently from birds and reptiles? And insects. All of which have found egg-laying to be a highly successful means of launching new generations. 

            All of the chordata have backbones. With variations, of course. But basically, an internal skeleton attached to a backbone to give our bodies shape and form, covered with a softer skin. 

            We live around a scaffolding of bones. 

            But why?

            Insects did the opposite. They developed an external skeleton, with all their organs and muscles tucked inside. Medieval knights, shielded behind their suits of armour, replicated insects. In a sense, they tried to reverse evolution. 

            We have limbs attached to our bony structure. As far as I know, always four limbs. Not just among mammals. Reptiles have four limbs too. Even snakes have putative structures attached where mammal limbs would be. 

            Birds fly. But they too have two legs and two wings, attached much as human arms and legs are.

            Why pick four?

            Why aren’t there any three-legged birds, for example? 

            I had a boss once, a linguistic iconoclast, who insisted that merely having a definition for something proved nothing. He would coin a word, such as “splixarg.” 

            “What’s a splixarg?” someone would ask. 

            “A splixarg is a three-legged bird,” he’d say. 

            Is having four limbs the reason why 4/4 is an almost universal rhythm in human folk music?

            And does that imply that waltzes were written for splixargs?

            Why do we humans have duplicate organs? Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two legs, two breasts, two testicles, two kidneys… Why waste energy on redundancy?

            Surely, when those first eukaryotes discovered sexual reproduction, they didn’t tell each other, “We need back-up organs, in case these ones have a best-before date.”

            But all mammals have only one heart. One brain. 

            An entire phylum bet everything on a single vital organ. A trifle risky, isn’t it?

            You may believe that an infinite intelligence designed things this way. “Ours not to reason why,” as Tennyson wrote in a different context.

            I can’t help thinking that an infinite intelligence could have shown more forethought about some elements of evolution. 

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Copyright © 2022 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

                  To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Okay, last week’s column was a heart-tugger, as I reflected on 29 years of living in this house. I wasn’t looking for sympathy, although several of you offered it. Thank you. I was more reflecting on some of the changes we cannot alter as we grow older. 

“You have me in tears,” wrote Mirza Yawe Baig. Come and visit us. I promise to leave you alone. 

            “How true what you say – that essentially we are alone. I too dread that day when (and if) I am alone. Being connected to Allah helps because that is the only relationship which is truly forever. And one day I will go to Him. Just sharing.”

Pat Graham offered some advice from experience: “Every broken relationship, regardless of length is heartbreaking, the end of your hopes and dreams for the future.  I can count 7 broken romantic relationships; some I ended, others my partner did.  I thought it was the end of the world.  I would never find happiness again.  It took some time, but each time I accepted the finality of the past days and good times, and opened myself to believing I could find happiness again, I did.  I started looking and being open to meeting new people, each one very different from the others.  

            “I believe that some men and women shut themselves off, and despite the opportunities, are stuck in wishing for what is lost or gone.  In my opinion, the best way to find new happiness is to move on.  Just as a new baby is a joy, it does help you recover if you have another distraction or "attraction".  I feel sure there are many women out there, who like you are lost and alone, and you could easily find a new friend, companion, dinner date, or a partner to cycle or climb with.  

            “Kelowna has lots of widows to choose from!  

            “I found the best person in my life at 69 years of age, and met him at church.  He too was tired of being alone and was open to meeting someone new.  We have had 15 of the best years of our lives, at last with a truly compatible person who shares our philosophy and values.  

            “It all starts with being open to a new adventure.  You are a great candidate to do so.”

Like me, Penny Kirk found being alone came as a shock: “When my youngest daughter moved away to university I had an empty house. The first time in my adult life I lived alone. I went from my mother’s house straight into married life. Suddenly I was alone. No one to cook for or clean up after. Supper time was the hardest part of my day… Now after work I come home to cats and quiet. Don’t get me wrong, some days I love the peace and quiet. 

            “My daughters and granddaughter are visiting right now. The house is full of activity and joy. It feels the same but different and I am grateful that they take time out to see ol’ Granny. Life is different but good.”

Greta Horton agreed that “Nothing is forever.  My husband and I were married for almost 59 years when he passed away.  But I had lost some of him over 5 years before with a cerebral stroke.

            “We had lived in our home for 50 years, and I continue to live in the house that provided us shelter.  We raised three children here and this house provides me with comfort, memories, and gardens to tend.

            “You should  ask yourself if you would be more content living elsewhere without the memories that your home still holds. Would you be more content living somewhere where you would build new memories, and not face old ones?  

            “Women do handle being on their own better than men.  It is always a difficult decision.  Thank you for providing a forum for these difficult subjects.”

Avivah Wargon: “I haven't been where you are. I am 72 now and my husband is 78. I am well aware that we are in the latter part of our lives and, as you said, one of us will go through what you're describing, perhaps sooner rather than later. (I've had breast cancer twice--I'm now 9-1/2 years out of the second round, and doing well, but it sharpens your awareness of mortality. I lost a friend my age a year ago, on her third round.) 

            “I'm Jewish, and Judaism has staged mourning, each stage involving fewer restrictions than the previous one, ending at the end of the first year. Other religions have similar customs. However, traditional rituals, while they honour the deceased, clearly may not give a surviving spouse much help in going on alone. With the caveat that I can't know how it feels, I wonder if there should be some ritual to address the business of going on, perhaps on the first anniversary of the death. It should include the idea that the departed spouse would have wanted the survivor, after a period of mourning, to create a new life, the best life possible. The ritual could involve candles (remembrance), the presence of people who matter to the survivor, and good food (life and caring). That may not quite constitute a celebration of being alone, but it's the best thing I can think of right now.

            “And where do natural loners go to get away from it all? They seek out the company of a few kindred spirits. One to three other people whose company I really enjoy may be the ideal gathering for me. I suppose that that's an admission that almost no one enjoys being alone all the time.” 

Laura Spurrell would agree about creating liturgies for grieving: “Not quite 20 years ago I went through a divorce, not of my choosing. While doing the legal work, I also wrote a liturgy of New Beginnings that I celebrated with family and friends when the divorce was final. Because I find signs and symbols to be powerful,  I included that. I took off my wedding rings and placed them in the baptismal font. The pastor fished them out and placed them in a special box. I don't remember all the readings, prayers, and responses. But I do remember being loved into this new phase of my life. That is church at its best for me.”

Andy Fraser understood: “I just finished working on a crossword puzzle. For me, that’s big!  I haven’t had any desire to do so since my husband passed away nearly two years ago.  Until then our Sun. a.m. ritual was to struggle through the G & M puzzle together. After he left, I just could not do it until now.  The same with reading.  We loved our quiet reading times together. Suddenly I could not pick up a book.  I felt sad, mystified and embarrassed in case he somehow was aware.

            “But now finally I am back😀 and I somehow know he knows.”

Ken DeLisle is also grieving: “This week’s reflection touched me deeply.  My husband (John Robertson) died suddenly just over a year ago from. Heart problems.  How does ‘we’ become ‘I’; and ‘ours’ become ‘mine’? A few days after his death I found a quote that helped me.  ‘It is impossible for you to go on as you were before, so you must go on as you never have’ - Cheryl Strayed. And every day I go on because I have to learn how. Peace friend.  Grieving is hard work.”

“No, Jim, there are no celebrations for loneliness,” Jim Hoffman wrote.  “I wish I had a cure -- I cannot imagine your feelings of being alone. Joyce and I look forward to your writings each week, and you seem like an old friend, even though we have never met.  

            “Please know you keep us from feeling lonely -- you speak to us as you share your thoughts , opinions and feelings.  If only we could do that in person.  Heck, I'd even buy the coffee and doughnuts.”

Eduard Hiebert was surprised to learn that I was an introvert. His longer letter contained this wonderful sentence: “Back in elementary school I already told myself being alone while with other people is worse than being alone by myself.”

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Psalm paraphrase

I have previous paraphrases of Psalm 50, but they feel like an outdated treatment of God as almighty judge, ready to smack His gavel down on miscreants who dispute his authority. So I tried doing something different. This is verses 1-6, not the whole reading called for by the lectionary. 

The sphere of earth spins on its axis, cycling through space.

Gravity reaches out, tugs the galaxies into orbits. 

Air is invisible to us, but we breathe it anyway. 

Some things are beyond denial, beyond protesting against. 

The presence of God is like that. 

God is everywhere, in everything, in everyone. 

In God, we live and breathe and have our being. 

We are like fish in water, birds in air – 

we cannot see and cannot know the medium that supports us,

lifts us, holds us, lets us live our independent lives. 

But the invisible God draws all things together, 

makes meaning out of chaos, makes connection out of coincidence. 

It’s not up to us to judge God’s presence;

the heavens themselves are God’s witness.

You can find paraphrases of most of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary in my book Everyday Psalmsavailable from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

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PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. Some spam filters have blocked my posts because they’re suspicious of some of the web links.

                  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca He’s also relatively inexpensive!

                  I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also has lots of beautiful photos. Especially of birds.

                  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)

ALVA WOOD’S ARCHIVE

                  I have acquired (don’t ask how) the complete archive of the late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures. I’ve put them on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. You’re welcome to browse. No charge. (Although maybe if I charged a fee, more people would find the archive worth visiting.)