It is that wonderful time of the year on our island when the new growth begins to appear in our yards, on the trees, and in the forests that surround us. What has been of particular interest to me and my children over the years has been the sheer breadth of the shades of green that are visible, and we’ve often made a point of trying to distinguish them as we move about the island. On a whim, I decided to ask our resident genius, Google, how many shades of green were visible to the human eye. The response was remarkable, stating that there are thousands of shades of green, and that green is the most perceived color for humans.
It occurred to me (because my mind is a strange and twisted place) that an evolutionary biologist could say that our eye evolved to perceive more green precisely because there are so many different shades in nature, and being able to discern the difference may have posed an evolutionary advantage. But if you believe that God created man, then you could say that since man was created to be able to see more shades of green than any other color, then God made sure to use an extensive breadth of greens as He was designing the world in which we live. Does our ability to see the subtleties of our surroundings point us towards a personal and detail-oriented Creator, or instead suggest that the function of chance and mutation, guided by natural selection, can determine some extremely intricate components of the human body?
We are surrounded by a remarkable palette of colors, and we are able to see them and discern the difference. Because we can discern the difference, we can tell new from old, healthy from sick, safety from danger, and other things that certainly pertain to benefits that are necessary for the fittest to survive. But because of our ability to discern a difference, we also are able to experience things that fit with a universal concept of beauty, such as a sunset over the marsh. No one had to tell us that such an image is beautiful. We simply see it, and agree, and there doesn’t seem to be an evolutionary benefit to the experience of beauty as it pertains to the setting sun.
Living in an area of significant natural beauty gives us reason to reflect more on topics like this than if we lived in an urban environment. But maybe that is one of the reasons why places like our island are so important. Stimulating big thoughts, like whether there is a God, and does He really care about how I experience life, are ideas that we really should spend time meditating on. There are no more significant questions to address than those, so it is appropriate even for evolutionary biologists to wrestle with them. Perhaps we all need a slow-paced golf cart ride down our dirt roads in the Spring to stimulate our thoughts.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron