My name is Tyler, I am a Christian, and this is my blog, Finches and Sparrows.
I don't exactly know how it's going to end up, or where this is going to take me, but I plan to write about culture, news, and religion, and possibly college athletics, if the mood strikes. I also might put photos I take up here if applicable, which I do sometimes as a hobby. I will try not to ramble on about frivolous things; just call me if you want to hear about what I ate for breakfast.
Right about now, you are probably wondering, "Wait a minute, wait a minute...news? religion? finches? Tyler, unless you have a hidden interest in bird-watching, I think you misnamed your blog...."
The name's a bit cryptic, but it does make sense.
I am referring to the finches of the Galapagos Islands, off the Pacific coast of Ecuador. These islands were the site of some of the discoveries that led to Darwin's development of his theory of natural selection and evolution. He was travelling the world in 1835 on the HMS Beagle as the companion of its commander, Captain FitzRoy.
On the high seas, the decisions made by a captain could mean life or death for the sailors aboard, and because of this responsibility--and the conflicts of interest that could arise--captains could never establish meaningful friendships with the crew. Sea-faring captains were prone to isolation, depression, and suicide, and often another person would be selected to serve not on the crew, but as a friend for the captain during long voyages. On the Beagle, this was Charles Darwin.
While the Beagle was moored at the Galapagos, Darwin disembarked and studied the local plant and animal life. He noticed that many animals, especially the finches, differed from island to island, and these differences conferred advantages upon the particular finch. For instance, an island with many large, hard nuts also had finches with large strong beaks to crack the nuts, but an island with smaller seeds had finches that were smaller and could grasp seeds more easily. Other islands were home to finches with long slender beaks that could poke through holes to grab at members of the large local insect population.
A few decades later, in 1859, Darwin released his findings (along with many others) in the seminal On the Origin of the Species. His work began the scientific inquiries that ultimately coalesced into the modern theory of evolution. This framework can be summarized into several statements.
- Differences between living creatures are the result of differences in their genes, their set of instructions on how to do what they do. When its genes are copied to make offspring, they may not be copied perfectly; mutations can delete, duplicate, flip, move, or otherwise change the genetic information.
- All life is a struggle to survive, and some genetic information lets its organism to cope better with the situations it faces.
- Offspring with the mutated genes may (but not always) do better than the cousins with the normal gene. The mutants will compete better for food, compete better for mates, and have more babies.
- Over time, the mutants may dominate the normal creatures, and the species may change.
What kind of a world--what kind of a humanity--do we know? Like the finches, whose character, whose identity, were formed by the meaningless process of genetic mistakes, many of our brothers and sisters bear similar scars in their souls. They are hurt, and their ideas and their actions are shaped by a viewpoint of pointlessness, or the sins--the mistakes--of those close to them.
Like the finches, whose lives were marked with struggle--the evasion of lurking predators, the ceaseless fighting for food, the pursuit of a mate, all in a few short years before they die, many of our friends and family struggle. Many try to elude their predators--those who threaten them, or those who hurt them long ago. Many scratch and claw their way for food, the trappings of a materialist lifestyle, but still are hungry. Many long for the sweet taste of true love, but have only found the bitterness of love corrupted. And many spend their final years with more questions than answers, more doubts than confidence, and more fears than hopes, stumbling about like a traveler by night, watching the moon wane like their days here, wondering what they will do when all is dark.
Our job as believers, and my hope for this blog, is that we could present a different story, and tell of a different songbird. Remember the Gospel of Luke?
"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God...don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Luke 12:6-7 NASBCan we realize that "the lost" is not just a term of convenience, but one of a brutal reality? Can we look upon them, like Christ, and "have compassion"? Can we share with them the faith, the hope, and the love of knowing God?
Can we sing the sparrows' song in the finches' forest?
