Reshuffle Information

Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive: Reshuffle Information: exchange and alter information to create new options

When I was in my early 20s I was asked by a friend if I would give “The Prodigal” talk at a Christian weekend retreat. There are two things to know about this request. One, “the prodigal” refers to the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:11-32. The youngest of two sons asks his father for his inheritance to be given to him presently so he does not have to wait until his father dies. Nice. The father complies and splits his wealth and gives both sons their inheritance. The oldest son continues the life of an eldest son in that culture. He is responsible, cares for the fields, and does what his father asks. The youngest says, “thanks dad, I’m off” and travels to distant lands having a good time and squandering the money until there is no money left and he is starving. A farmer hires him to feed the pigs, and I imagine the son, so desperate to eat, getting nose to snout close with pigs over a slop trough, comes to his senses and thinks that even his father’s servants eat better than he. The son returns home hoping his father will allow him to be a slave, but the father welcomes him with open arms and throws a party for his “prodigal” son. 

Two, I was no prodigal. I am the oldest of two daughters. Fairly responsible, obedient (most of the time), a pleaser, didn’t want to cause trouble for my parents. 

I flippantly replied to my friend’s request that I was more like the oldest son in the story. I stayed behind and was responsible. In my best highfalutin voice I said I could give no “prodigal” talk. My friend smiled and said that I could, and she wanted me to give the talk from the perspective of the brother who stayed behind. 

When you hear the “Prodigal Son'' story, the emphasis is usually on the reunion of the prodigal and the father. Let’s reshuffle though because there is much to be learned from the eldest brother who stayed. The eldest, having been responsible and tending the field all day, makes his way home. I imagine it’s dark, but the eldest son’s feet know this well traveled route. He hears music coming from the direction of the house. And voices, laughter, people having a good time. At his house! What’s going on? He meets a servant on the porch who tells him his youngest brother has returned and there is celebrating in the house! His father has killed and prepared a fattened calf to celebrate! The servant tries to take the brother’s hand, to pull him into the celebration, but the eldest is not having it. He is tired, stinky, dirty, and hungry. He has stayed. All these years, he has stayed. And worked. And tended. And saved. The music seems to get louder and pulse from his feet to his head, or is that his anger and resentment rising through his body? His father comes, reaching for him to include him in the festivities, but the eldest wants no part. He spews terrible words at his father: “I’ve worked hard for you,” I’ve never asked you for anything,” “I’ve always obeyed,” “I never got a fattened calf to serve at a party with my friends,” “I stayed and behaved and your youngest son gallivants up and down the Las Vegas strip and you welcome him back with a party and fattened calf?” The eldest could keep going with these sentiments that have been unknowingly pent up inside him, but his father gently says “you have son, you have stayed with me, worked by my side. Everything I have is yours.” His voice starts to rise with excitement, “Your brother is home. We thought he was dead, but he’s alive. Look! There he is dancing in our living room. We thought he was dead. But he is alive!” 

The eldest was a prodigal; he was not reckless with his physical inheritance- the money, the fields, the work. He was reckless with his father’s teachings, time, and spiritual investment. 

Reshuffle Information: Genetics

I learned to shuffle a deck of cards in 2nd grade during a snowstorm. My mother was an excellent shuffler and she showed me how to separate the deck into two piles. Then she taught me how to hold a pile in each hand between my thumb and the last three fingers, with my index finger on top of the cards. (Yes, I pulled out a deck of cards to reenact.) The tricky part was then using the index fingers to gently apply pressure to the middle of the pile while the thumbs decrease pressure so you get this gentle shuffle of cards into a single deck. In humans, we have a pile of genes from our mother and a pile from our father that are shuffled into one deck creating ourselves. If we have siblings, that same process happens and there is a totally different human created. Then, if we have children, our pile of genes is shuffled with a partner’s pile of genes. This reshuffling creates genetic diversity. This genetic diversity aids in “adaptation to novel or changing environments.”

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27 ‘ “Your brother’s come home!” he said. “And your father has thrown a great party – he’s killed the fattened calf! – because he’s got him back safe and well!” 28 ‘He flew into a rage, and wouldn’t go in. ‘Then his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 “Look here!” he said to his father, “I’ve been slaving for you all these years! I’ve never disobeyed a single commandment of yours. And you never even gave me a young goat so I could have a party with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours comes home, once he’s finished gobbling up your livelihood with his whores, you kill the fattened calf for him!” 31 ‘ “My son,” he replied, “you’re always with me. Everything I have belongs to you. 32 But we had to celebrate and be happy! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!” ’ (Luke 15: 27-32 New Testament for Everyone) 

Humility- n. a modest or low view of one's own importance

Humility may be one of those characteristics you feel you have. Like the brother, until your father throws a big party for your contrite brother! Do you read the Bible with humility? Is the Bible about humans or God? We have a habit of reading the Bible to affirm what we believe, leaving little room for what God could be showing us. Like the story of The Prodigal, many never consider the brother. Like many who read the Bible, they can not imagine that God’s story would have anything to say about non-human creation. But it does. And something it points to is God revealed through creation right outside our doors. What are you learning from creation? 

Integrate the Unexpected

Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive: Integrate the Unexpected: Incorporate mistakes in ways that can lead to new forms and functions

In order to know what is unexpected, we need to define ‘expect.’ Expect: verb (to use with object): ​1. to look forward to; regard as likely to happen; anticipate the occurrence or the coming of. I recognize now that to expect something is subjective. You and I may expect different things in the same circumstance. When reading this devotional, I expect you to read it the way I wrote it when I wrote it. That may include seriousness, but I may have written something with snark (my love language) that may be unexpected when you read it. So, when I am thinking about unexpected things in the Bible, I am seeing them through my own bias towards what is expected and unexpected. That’s why I have chosen this story because there may be both (and because it is another favorite.) It comes from 1 Kings 17: 1-6. I have used The Message, a paraphrase versus a translation of the Bible, because, one, it’s fun to read, and second because I believe Eugene Peterson, the paraphraser, writes this as if what happened was unexpected. (If you’re not familiar with a paraphrase versus a translation this is a good example.) 

And then this happened: Elijah the Tishbite, from among the settlers of Gilead, confronted Ahab: “As surely as God lives, the God of Israel before whom I stand in obedient service, the next years are going to see a total drought—not a drop of dew or rain unless I say otherwise.” God then told Elijah, “Get out of here, and fast. Head east and hide out at the Kerith Ravine on the other side of the Jordan River. You can drink fresh water from the brook; I’ve ordered the ravens to feed you.” Elijah obeyed God’s orders. He went and camped in the Kerith canyon on the other side of the Jordan. And sure enough, ravens brought him his meals, both breakfast and supper, and he drank from the brook.

Elijah is a prophet, chosen by God to speak for God, so he confronted Ahab on behalf of God. (Some in Christian circles may find it disconcerting that God asked Elijah to confront Ahab and then tell him to flee, but there is nothing in Christianity that says being obedient to God always results in rainbows and sunshine. It can be scary.) God’s response telling Elijah to flee may have been unexpected and anxiety inducing. I wonder (see what I did there) if that is why God immediately told Elijah that the brook would provide water and ravens would bring him breakfast and dinner. A raven! Now, for us, that is unexpected. What it has allowed for us to do though, is to take a minute and ask questions. Why is it unexpected? It does not seem like Elijah thought it was out of the ordinary. Perhaps this tells us about the relationship people had with nature or even the relationship people had with God. Afterall, Elijah was obeying God so why would a God- created raven not obey God as well? When we come across the unexpected in the Bible let’s discern what the story is trying to tell us. Perhaps it is less unexpected than it first seems. 

Integrate the Unexpected: Tuskless Elephants

Evolution is change that spans generations. It arises through mutations in the code of an individual or from sexual reproduction that recombines genes. Those with beneficial traits usually survive to then pass on this genetic code to their offspring. As the environment changes, success is dependent upon this trait being passed successively through many generations to affect the entire population for a true genetic shift.

When it comes to genes, sometimes an unexpected “mistake” can be integrated more often and become the “normal” gene expression. Unfortunately, humans are playing a part when it comes to African elephants who are being poached for their ivory tusks. “A previously rare genetic mutation causing tusklessness has become very common in some groups of African elephants after a period in which many were killed for their tusks.” Tuskless elephants were not hunted and so they were able to pass on the tuskless genetic code to their offspring. African elephants are having to integrate what was considered a “mistake” in order to be tuskless so they can survive humans.

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Ravens are a sleek, black feathered predator bird and the largest of the perching birds. They can be found all over the North American continent, but they do avoid populated areas. Ravens are not picky eaters, enjoying a variety of carrion, mice, birds, insects, scorpions, fish, grains, berries, and human food. They are acrobatic birds, but also fly with a flap and glide pattern which conserves energy while maintaining speed and experts in orientation. Ravens have many similarities to humans: consciousness, plan for the future, abstract notions of self and time, and the need to process the day through dreams.

I am assuming Noah knew all of this about ravens. He was taking care of ravens on the ark. “Then he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.” (Gen. 8:7 NLV) And God sent the ravens to Elijah to bring him food. Now you know the kind of food the ravens may have fed him with! What I find interesting about the choice of the raven is this… it is mentioned as one of the unclean birds not to be eaten in Leviticus 11:15. Why? 

(Was that an unexpected ending?) 

Replicate Strategies that Work

Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive: Replicate Strategies that Work: Repeat successful approaches

What is the quote misattributed to Einstein? “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I am very familiar with replicating strategies that do not work, so finding an example of one that does might be difficult. Except, we’re talking about the Bible, and one successful approach to life in the Bible were laws. The Pentateuch, a word for the first five books of the Old Testament, was full of laws, over 600 of them. The books are sometimes fittingly referred to as the books of the law. The Sadducees were an elitist faction that believed the written laws were to be interpreted literally. The Pharisees honored the oral tradition and were less literal in their interpretation of the laws. Both factions were addressed by Jesus after his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Laws seem to have been a successful approach for living life, but Jesus thought they not only needed a refresher regarding the laws, but another approach regarding the laws. In Matthew 5:21-22a Jesus says, “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,[c] and whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment.” (Tree of Life Version) This expanded the intent of the law to include not only physical actions, but thoughts, the whole as true meaning. This example followed Jesus saying, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17, English Standard Version) This was a successful approach to teaching the laws and the fullness of what they meant. Jesus furthers this approach in the same interaction with the Pharisees and Sadducees when asked which was the greatest commandment. “He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,[c] and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.[d] All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22: 37-40, Common English Bible) I would be remiss if I did not look at this scripture more closely to see Jesus’s second approach, the one Jesus gave as the fulness and fulfillment. 

In Exodus 20: 1-17, the Ten Commandments were given to God’s people. The first three are regarding humans’ relationship to God. The last six are regarding humans’ relationships to each other. The fourth commandment, the Sabbath, is a bridge that encompasses relationships between God and creation: humans and non-human creation. That was the Old Testament, but now we have Jesus who was the full expression of the laws and he summed them up with Love God and Love Neighbor. Jesus gave us the example to think more deeply about the intent of the law. If we are to love God, are we not to love all that God loves, all that God created? And if we remember our place in creation, as a piece with responsibility to the whole, do our neighbors now look more like the community of creation? 

We humans have a tendency to read all of the Christian scriptures with an anthropocentric lens. What does the Christian Bible have to say about and to us? What does the Christian Bible teach us about God? How does the Christian Bible use non-human creation to teach us about God? To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our being, and mind requires attention, meditation, and action to the God revealed not only in the Christian Scriptures, but in the God-made creation.

Replicate Strategies that Work: Arapaima fish

Life replicates strategies that work. Behaviors that are successful are reinforced and reproduced. These behaviors are taught to or mimicked by offspring or members in the community. 

In order to survive the waters in the Amazon where piranhas live, the Arapaima fish’s scales have evolved into two-layers of armor. The outer layer is hard to resist piranha attacks and the inner layer is softer and flexible to recover from an attack. Collagen helps connect the layers in a Bouligan structure which helps distribute the force of an attack to reduce the impact!

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“He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being,[c] and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself.[d] All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” (Matthew 22: 37-40, Common English Bible)

How do you love God? Be honest with yourself. 

Imagine a person you love. How do you love them? 

Here are some suggestions you may want to include if you haven’t already: learn something about what they love, spend time together doing something they love, pay attention to what they love, what is the motivation behind loving what they love… If these helped you think of others, include those now.

Draw a heart around the similarities in how you love God and love someone. Are there words without a heart? If you could begin to love the others in these ways, put a circle around the words. How will you put the circled words into action this week? 

Who is your neighbor?

Go for a walk in your home or work neighborhood. When you return, write down all of your neighbors? Draw a heart around the similarities. Draw a square around the rest. Why were these not originally written down as your neighbors? Be honest (with no judgment) and curious about your answers. You may need to ask yourself more questions. (Again, no judgment. Judgment doesn’t feel good and it prevents us from seeing and learning how to do better.) 

Did you include creation as your neighbors or only humans? Write down the non-human creation you encountered.

Why should we expand our definition of neighbor to include non-human creation? Throughout the Bible, God shares God’s love for all creation. Should we not also love what the creator loves? Should this not inform the way we live in this world? Write down three ways you can be a better neighbor. 

(Just checking. You did include ALL of creation and not just humans?)

LP: Evolve to Survive

Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive: continually incorporate and embody information to ensure enduring performance.

When I think of the Bible and evolving to survive there are many contexts that come up, but one in particular, is translations. Without translations, you and I would need to know how to read Hebrew and Aramaic to understand the Old Testament and Greek to understand the New Testament. Honestly, I have been trying to learn Spanish over the last couple of years and have made very little progress so I can’t imagine learning languages where I also have to learn a new alphabet, draw characters, and read from right to left. 

That’s enough ABOUT translations, what can we learn FROM translations? In Biomimicry, curiosity is a key starting point. We often look at an organism and ask questions that begin with “I wonder.” I wonder why the original languages were translated to English? I think I just answered that question, English speakers would need to learn three new languages! I wonder why it was important that the Bible was translated to English? Greater dispersal of not only the Word of God, but life-giving words? I wonder why we need so many translations? Ahhh…while attending a Biomimicry immersion in California in March 2023 we were given a worksheet titled “Building Bridges Between Biology and Design.” There were 30 statements where we had to decide if the language used would be understandable for the conversation partners. Example: Biologist to Architect: The pores in human skin are spiral shaped to increase the ability to sweat. This is not a good translation for an architect who knows little about biology (but how cool is it that our pores are spiral shaped to increase the ability to sweat?!) 

Translations matter. One of my favorite scriptures in the Old Testament is Genesis 16:13. It is from the story of Hagar. Hagar is Sarai’s (aka Sarah) servant whom she gives to Abram (aka Abraham) to conceive a child. Once Hagar conceives, the relationship between Sarai and Hagar deteriorates so dramatically that a pregnant Hagar runs away. An angel of the Lord speaks to Hagar in the wilderness. 

So Hagar gave this name to the Lord Who spoke to her, “You are a God Who sees.” For she said, “Have I even stayed alive here after seeing Him?” (Genesis 16:13 New Life Version)

Meh.

Read this translation!

Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”[a] She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” (Genesis 16:13 New Living Translation)

Read them both again. 

“You are a God Who sees” versus “You are the God who sees me.” 

“Have I even stayed alive here after seeing Him?” versus “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 

These sound very different to me. If you have ever felt unseen because (insert reason here) then maybe Hagar’s declaration to God that “you are the God who sees me” resonates deep within your soul. Being truly seen for who you are feels like a gift and this is how I read Hagar’s story. And then for Hagar to say, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” This is not Hagar declaring she has seen God, but she has seen the reflection of herself through God’s eyes. Beloved. That is enduring. 

As Christians, continually incorporating and embodying what we learn from scriptures leads to a life filled with love, compassion, and relationships with God and all of creation. That’s how we Evolve to Survive in this modern world. 

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Evolving to Survive: The Blue ‘Morpho Butterfly

Evolution is change that spans generations. It arises through mutations in the code of an individual or from sexual reproduction that recombines genes. Those with beneficial traits usually survive to then pass on this genetic code to their offspring. As the environment changes, success is dependent upon this trait being passed successively through many generations to affect the entire population for a true genetic shift.

Many believe color in nature is due to pigments, but there are also colors created by structure! “Structural color is caused by wavelength-selective scattering of light by microscopic features” like the scales that compose one side of blue ‘Morpho butterfly wings. Various ecological pressures have caused the evolution of this structural color mechanism. “‘Morpho are relatively fast-flying butterflies often considered difficult to capture… as a result of the marked but intermittent signalling emitted by their wings, irregular and ever-changing in nature as they beat rapidly in flight, hiding and exposing successively” the glossy blue top side and the brown underside of their wings. This dynamic flash coloration may have evolved to confuse predators with their erratic flight trajectory. How genius is not only the structural color mechanism, but the flight pattern! 

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Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”[a] She also said, “Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” (Genesis 16:13 New Living Translation)

Find a safe, comfortable place in nature. Close your eyes and place your hands over your heart. Give yourself permission to be fully present during this time. Take slow, cleansing breaths. Proceed through the meditation at your own pace. 

Receive these words. “You are the God who sees me.” 

Meditate on these words. “You are the God who sees me.” 

Express your response to these words. “You are the God who sees me.”

Revel in these words and what they mean to you. “You are the God who sees me.” 

Open your eyes.

Move your body to allow your gaze to take in all that is around you, the God-made. “You are the God who sees me.” You are surrounded and part of God’s creation. What you are experiencing is also experiencing you. Did you sense a change in the birds’ singing? Did a bee change course? What is life doing below your feet, feeling the vibrations of your movement? We are connected. Breathe that in. We are connected. We are all God-made. The only difference is that we were made in the image of God. We are to reflect that love God applied to create all things back to God’s creation. With your vision expanded, do you see how God sees God’s own creation? Do you see God’s creation as God sees it? It is very good. Put this vision together and can you see how God sees us all as one creation? 

“You are the God who sees me. Have I truly seen the One who sees me?” 

How do you feel after this meditation? Do you feel (re)connected to God? Has your view of yourself changed? Has your view of the God-created changed? What will you do each day to absorb this experience so it becomes something you naturally experience? 

Incorporate and Embody Information (Copy)

Evolve to Survive: continually incorporate and embody information to ensure enduring performance

Have you ever heard someone say Jesus was a Christian? (Facepalm.) Jesus Christ was a Jew. Also, just in case, Christ was not Jesus’s last name and H wasn’t his middle initial. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah which means anointed one. How have we gone from a story for the Israelite people to one that could be so misconstrued as to have people believing Jesus was a Christian?

Maybe it is time for a Biblical history and Jesus’s genealogy lesson; I know I need one. While writing this I had to ask myself if Jews, Hebrews, and Israelites are synonymous. They are not. Hebrew is a language and Hebrews is the term used for those who trace their roots back to Abraham in Genesis. 

Abraham’s son with Sarah was named Isaac. 

Isaac and Leah bore a son named Jacob. Israelite comes from Israel, formerly known as Jacob. His name change was a result of wrestling with God (Gen. 32:39). Jacob’s/ Israel’s twelve sons are also the patriarchs known as the Twelve Tribes, and those descendents are called Israelites. The fourth son/ patriarch was named Judah and Jew comes from the Hebrew word for Judah. Jews are considered an ethnic or religious group and you are Jewish if you can trace your lineage back five generations on the maternal side. (I wonder why Jesus’s lineage starting with Judah in Matthew 1 is listed through the men with the exception of 5 incredible women?) If you have heard Jesus referred to as the Lion of Judah, this is where the term comes from. (Also, if you are unfamiliar with the story of Judah and Tamar it is worth reading in Genesis 38 and remember the context: a patriarchal society.) 

Whew, now, back to our regularly scheduled program. 

Nope. 

I forgot one. 

Gentiles. 

No, two.

Christians.

Chi Rho

Gentiles are defined by who they are not, and they are none of the ones mentioned above. The Biblical story, originally for the Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish people, evolved to include the Gentiles when Jesus, the Jew, appeared. After Jesus’s death and resurrection, the disciples spread out to preach and minister to the people. They were first called Christians in Acts 11:26. Those who believe in Jesus are called Christians, Χριστιανός in Greek. Notice the Χρ? Those first two letters are often superimposed to represent Christ. (You may recognize this as an ornament on a church’s Christmas tree or the Χ in X-mas.) 

The Biblical story evolved as an invitation from God to all people. I believe the Bible is to teach us about God, but we read it with a human-centered perspective and leave out the “theological vision of the community of God’s creation in relation to its Creator.” We are so disconnected from that vision that you may not have even included yourself as part of creation in that statement. It’s time to evolve and begin reading the Bible to learn about God and God’s relation to creation.

DivineSite

Find a comfortable place surrounded by creation. Regulate your breathing as you take in your surroundings. What do you hear, see, smell? Give thanks for God’s creation.

As you continue to observe, in your mind’s eye remove any clouds, sun, moon, stars. Keep observing and breathing evenly. Now, remove any water along with fish, reptiles, frogs, and birds. Keep observing. What does your area look like now? Remove animals. Remove grass, plants, flowers, vines, and bushes. How do you feel looking at creation with these pieces missing? Now, remove trees and soil and anything else that is God-made. Maybe there are still buildings or cars around you. How do you feel? Do you feel like Joni Mitchell where:

They paved paradise 

And put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique

And a swinging hot spot

How do you experience God when you remove all of the God-made? 

We have a tendency to ignore the God-made in the Bible or think of it as only settings in the Bible, but it is so much more than that. 

Incorporate and Embody Information

Evolve to Survive: continually incorporate and embody information to ensure enduring performance

Have you ever heard someone say Jesus was a Christian? (Facepalm.) Jesus Christ was a Jew. Also, just in case, Christ was not Jesus’s last name and H wasn’t his middle initial. Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah which means anointed one. How have we gone from a story for the Israelite people to one that could be so misconstrued as to have people believing Jesus was a Christian?

Maybe it is time for a Biblical history and Jesus’s genealogy lesson; I know I need one. While writing this I had to ask myself if Jews, Hebrews, and Israelites are synonymous. They are not. Hebrew is a language and Hebrews is the term used for those who trace their roots back to Abraham in Genesis. 

Abraham’s son with Sarah was named Isaac. 

Isaac and Leah bore a son named Jacob. Israelite comes from Israel, formerly known as Jacob. His name change was a result of wrestling with God (Gen. 32:39). Jacob’s/ Israel’s twelve sons are also the patriarchs known as the Twelve Tribes, and those descendents are called Israelites. The fourth son/ patriarch was named Judah and Jew comes from the Hebrew word for Judah. Jews are considered an ethnic or religious group and you are Jewish if you can trace your lineage back five generations on the maternal side. (I wonder why Jesus’s lineage starting with Judah in Matthew 1 is listed through the men with the exception of 5 incredible women?) If you have heard Jesus referred to as the Lion of Judah, this is where the term comes from. (Also, if you are unfamiliar with the story of Judah and Tamar it is worth reading in Genesis 38 and remember the context: a patriarchal society.) 

Whew, now, back to our regularly scheduled program. 

Nope. 

I forgot one. 

Gentiles. 

No, two.

Christians.

Chi Rho

Gentiles are defined by who they are not, and they are none of the ones mentioned above. The Biblical story, originally for the Hebrew/Israelite/Jewish people, evolved to include the Gentiles when Jesus, the Jew, appeared. After Jesus’s death and resurrection, the disciples spread out to preach and minister to the people. They were first called Christians in Acts 11:26. Those who believe in Jesus are called Christians, Χριστιανός in Greek. Notice the Χρ? Those first two letters are often superimposed to represent Christ. (You may recognize this as an ornament on a church’s Christmas tree or the Χ in X-mas.) 

The Biblical story evolved as an invitation from God to all people. I believe the Bible is to teach us about God, but we read it with a human-centered perspective and leave out the “theological vision of the community of God’s creation in relation to its Creator.” We are so disconnected from that vision that you may not have even included yourself as part of creation in that statement. It’s time to evolve and begin reading the Bible to learn about God and God’s relation to creation.

DivineSite

Find a comfortable place surrounded by creation. Regulate your breathing as you take in your surroundings. What do you hear, see, smell? Give thanks for God’s creation.

As you continue to observe, in your mind’s eye remove any clouds, sun, moon, stars. Keep observing and breathing evenly. Now, remove any water along with fish, reptiles, frogs, and birds. Keep observing. What does your area look like now? Remove animals. Remove grass, plants, flowers, vines, and bushes. How do you feel looking at creation with these pieces missing? Now, remove trees and soil and anything else that is God-made. Maybe there are still buildings or cars around you. How do you feel? Do you feel like Joni Mitchell where:

They paved paradise 

And put up a parking lot

With a pink hotel, a boutique

And a swinging hot spot

How do you experience God when you remove all of the God-made? 

We have a tendency to ignore the God-made in the Bible or think of it as only settings in the Bible, but it is so much more than that. 

Reshuffle Information

Evolve to Survive: Reshuffle Information: exchange and alter information to create new options

There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. They were reshuffled and not arranged in chronological order (which would have been helpful to know when I was just beginning to read the Bible). Actually, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are in chronological order and are considered the Books of the Law. From there it feels like the names of the books were each written on a piece of papyrus, placed in a jar of clay, and then individually retrieved to determine the order. As far as I know that did not happen because they are actually organized in literary genres! The following groupings are from Bible Study Tools and (in parentheses, from an unknown source that I used to mark up my Bible’s book listings; I just know it wasn’t my brilliance that came up with the groupings).

Old Testament

Books of law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Books of history (Old Testament Narratives): Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

Books of poetry (Wisdom): Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon

Major prophets (prophecy): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel (apocalyptic prophecy) 

Minor prophets (prophecy): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

New Testament

History of the life of Jesus (New Testament Narratives): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Church history (New Testament Narrative): Acts of the Apostles

Paul’s letters (Epistles by Paul) to the churches: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians

Paul’s letters to individual people (Epistles by Paul): 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

Letters by others (Gentile Epistles): Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation (apocalyptic prophecy)

Why was the Bible compiled in literary genres versus chronological? I do not know. It’s like asking why some books were included in the Bible and some not. Perhaps inspiration from God or perhaps it was like a Fantasy Baseball draft? For my brain, I just like knowing that the Bible is not in chronological order and that there are literary genres that I need to pay attention to when reading. There are Bibles compiled in chronological order (all aptly named Chronological) so whichever way you think the Bible should have been compiled for your brain (which is obviously chronological) you can reshuffle the books in the order you prefer. Go crazy. Maybe you start with the New Testament and then read the Old Testament. Or read the women named books first (that would be short). Or the prophecies or apocalyptic prophecies. Reshuffle as much as you like, especially if it’s not your first time to read the Bible. I don’t believe God will care which order you read the books just as long as you are reading. Especially knowing this statistic from Barna, “In January 2020, we estimated that Bible Users—defined as individuals who read, listen to, or pray with the Bible on their own at least three or four times a year outside of a church service or church event—had reached a 10-year nadir, registering only 48 percent of Americans.”

Reading through the Bible is not a one time event. We have to keep training. Reshuffling is a great option because revelation happens. I do not know how many times I have read Exodus throughout the years, but this time I sat with the fact that Moses had to have a second set of Ten Commandments made because in a tantrum he broke the first set. (See Exodus 20 and 34.) Reshuffling creates epiphanies. 

Integrate the Unexpected

Evolve to Survive: Integrate the Unexpected: Incorporate mistakes in ways that can lead to new forms and functions

The Jewish people were expecting a king to deliver them from oppression. How do I know that? Umm… Forty something years of Good Friday services (she says with uncertainty)? At Jesus’s crucifixion, the written charge placed above Jesus’s crown-of-thorns-impaled head read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:37 NIV) 

The Old Testament is full of prophecies regarding the Messiah and Jesus fulfilled 200-400 of those. One mentions that the Messiah will come from the line of King David (and this is included in Jesus’s lineage) and the other says the King, righteous and victorious, will be riding a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9) Why, out of hundreds of prophecies, would this be the one to “stick” and be orally passed down generations? 

Think about the stories of God’s people in the Bible. The one word that describes God’s people is oppressed. “Oppressed: governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom. Why would an oppressed people hold on to a prophecy that their Messiah would be a king? 

Hope. 

Hope for deliverance from oppression. 

I am a white, American, middle-upper class, cisgender, married woman. Oppression is not something I am familiar with. I have experienced a bit of ageism in my 20s and a couple of instances where I felt dismissed because I was a woman, but that’s not a life lived in oppression. Living oppressed is a whole different way of living and there are people in the USA and all around the world living in oppression. 

I imagine the promise of a Messiah, Savior, military leader, and King provides great hope. 

God’s people were looking for relief from their oppression. How unexpected to be presented with a poor carpenter from Nazareth as your Messiah! Nathanael gives us a clue as to the cultural opinion of Nazareth, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46 Amplified Bible) 

Knowing all of this, if you were an oppressed Jew during this unexpected revelation of Jesus, how would you feel? Would you feel liberated? The Messiah has come! Would you feel foolish and reject the Messiah? Would you be angry? Take a minute to feel these emotions. 

What I find beautiful (on this side of the story) is the unexpectedness throughout Jesus’s story. God used the most unexpected people, through unexpected ways, to share an unexpected story. 

Matthew 2:1-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible

Wise Men Seek the King

2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east[a] and have come to worship Him.”[b]

3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born.

5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the leaders of Judah:
because out of you will come a leader
who will shepherd My people Israel.”[c]

7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”[d]

9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east![e] It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.[f] Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Flight into Egypt

13 After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called My Son.[g]

The Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been outwitted by the wise men, flew into a rage. He gave orders to massacre all the male children in and around Bethlehem who were two years[h] old and under, in keeping with the time he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

18 A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping,[i] and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.[j]

I don’t want to romanticize Jesus’s story because it is actually terrifying. An unwed teen gets the unexpected invitation to carry and birth the son of God in a culture that was oppressive and violent towards women. Joseph though, the soon to be husband, was invited to be a part of this story which protected her. Then King Herod, threatened by a prophecy that a King was born and seemingly would grow up to take his throne, decreed that boy children under the age of two were to be murdered. That’s why the holy family were refugees, fleeing Bethlehem to Egypt. 

The story of Jesus, with the exception maybe of Holy Week, has been cleaned up and packaged to make it palatable for non-oppressed people. But, the unexpectedness of Jesus’s story is what I believe makes it so powerful, but we have to be willing to put ourselves in the story. The unexpected beauty of Jesus’s story is that Jesus showed us how to live. That story reaches oppressed people, and honestly, it should preach to those of us who do not live oppressed by an outside force. We oppress ourselves by allowing culture to tell us to work more to make more money to buy more stuff. Jesus’s teachings and life demonstrated a freedom from those expectations. Let the unexpected story and life of Jesus touch you in unexpected ways. 

What did you find unexpected in this teaching? Reflect on what you know of Jesus’s story. How do you know it? Would it be unexpected to learn the Christmas narrative you are most familiar with is not from one book in the Bible but the conglomeration of stories from Matthew, Mark, and Luke? Spend some time reading the first chapter of each book. 

Replicate Strategies that Work

Evolve to Survive: Replicate strategies that work

Dr. Matthew Sleeth, former emergency room doctor, eco-evangelist, and author wrote a book called Reforesting Faith. In it, Dr. Sleeth recounts the evolution of the Biblical story through trees. Consistent use of trees in the Bible, Sleeth insists, “points to one Author” even though the Bible was written over the centuries by many people. The Biblical story can be told through three trees. The first tree, the Tree of Life, is in Genesis in the garden of Eden. This very same tree appears in the very last book of the Bible, Revelation. Bookended by the Tree of Life, is the second tree, the cross where Jesus died and ignited life through resurrection. “Every significant theological event in the Bible is marked by a tree… every major character in the Bible appears in conjunction with a tree.”

Take the quiz to connect a tree (or part of a tree) with a character. 

Quiz by Heather Bennett

When you encounter trees, vines, bushes, walking staffs, crosses, etc., in the Bible you should get excited. You may even hear music, like the infamous two note theme song from Jaws, playing in your head. Da dum… da dum… You want to be super aware… something’s about to happen. 

DivineSite: The Biology- Replicate strategies that work

Life replicates strategies that work. Behaviors that are successful are reinforced and reproduced. These behaviors are taught to or mimicked by offspring or members in the community.

Have you realized there are systems within the human body that look a lot like systems on the earth? Both “create conditions conducive to life.” If the consistent use of trees through the Biblical story points to one Author then the replication of the following strategies must point to that genius Author as well! Can you tell from the following which is a picture of a tree canopy and an x-ray of human lungs?

There are a lot of similarities! The picture on the left is an x-ray of the bronchial tree of our lungs!

Can you tell what is below?

On the left is a picture I took of a river system in Costa Rica. Think back to the fifth grade when you learned about the hydrologic cycle. The river system is the part where water is transported from land to the ocean where water evaporates into the atmosphere and is then returned to the land through rain and the cycle continues. On the right is an illustration of our body's blood circulatory system made up of veins, arteries, and capillaries. The heart pumps blood to the lungs to receive oxygen and then through the body via arteries. Oxygen depleted blood returns to the heart via veins. These cycles “create conditions conducive to life.” We could not survive without inputs from the hydrologic cycle. Is this coincidence or the genius design of our Creator? It makes me smile to think that God replicated this strategy and is winking at us saying “well, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” or “work smarter, not harder.” 

Life's Principle: Evolve to Survive

Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive

When we look at the Bible as a whole, can we see how it has evolved to survive? How did the Bible story evolve? One of the ways I see this in the Bible is the revelation of God. God revealed Godself in bushes, thunder, clouds, and angels in the Old Testament and then through Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Evolution doesn’t just happen; it’s responding to external stimuli. God’s revelation evolves as the Hebrew people evolve to be able to comprehend God and God’s works in the midst of their lives. It evolved into the revelation through Jesus and the Holy Spirit so that all creation may know God. This evolving revelation of God is still happening today. 

DivineSite

Find a quiet place to sit comfortably, eyes closed and hands resting palms up on your thighs.  Contemplate how God is evolving in your life through revelations. Does God seem to reveal God’s self in specific places? What is God trying to reveal to you?

From Psalm 46:10 (New Life Version):

Be quiet and know that I am God.

Be quiet and know that I am.

Be quiet and know that I.

Be quiet and know.

Be quiet.

Be. 

Introduction

I believe God presented us two books to learn from and experience God: the Bible and creation. Biomimicry, to me, is the imitation of God’s genius, and it gave me a new way to see God at work through creation. I believe God is the creator of Earth, Earth’s systems, and the systems within humans and non-human creation, all geniusly designed. When I began looking at Biomimicry’s Life’s Principles and thinking about God as the creator of these principles I began to wonder (a frequent step for Biomimics) if the principles might also be found in the Word of God, the Bible. I began looking at the Bible using the Life’s Principle Evolve to Survive metaphorically. I was somewhat surprised at what I discovered. That discovery has led to the writing of a Bible study.

If a spiritual transformation is going to occur within the Christian community then I believe one place that needs attention is through the (re)education regarding the Bible. I have witnessed Biblical illiteracy throughout my years of speaking to small groups. Examples range from not knowing/ remembering animals were also created on the same day as humans, the Noahic covenant included animals, and dominion was given after we were made in the image of God and prior to sin entering the world (and those examples are just from the first 10 chapters of Genesis). There is a need for some Biblical education that may get people excited to read the Bible again instead of regurgitating long learned beliefs. This is my attempt through a Biomimetic metaphorical framework. The goal is to show the Bible can be read with curiosity, and that curiosity leads to new discoveries and learnings that will hopefully inspire change within people and how people live this change in the world. I believe all the world’s injustices, racial, economic, climate, etc. are spiritual issues. This is my attempt to inspire curiosity for a journey to spiritual transformation.

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It is always interesting when I look back to see how I got to where I am today. Curiosity is usually a theme. When thinking about Biomimicry and how I believe it is the imitation of God’s genius I began to get curious. If God is the creator then God set Earth’s conditions and principles to coax life on this planet. I believe God gave us two “books” to read: the Bible and nature to help us know, learn, and experience God. If nature has operating conditions that ALL life is subject to and principles that ALL life exhibits in order to “create conditions conducive to life” then might the Bible, the inspired word of God, exhibit these as well? 

We will be using Biomimicry’s Life’s Principle: Evolve to Survive metaphorically, looking at the Bible as a whole to see if there are patterns in the first week. The second week will look at the sub-principles in order to inform our reading of specific scriptures within the Bible. 

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